cryptocurrency
Bulletins

Binance's US arm raised $200 million and is now worth $4.5 billion

The crypto exchange has struggled with executive churn and regulatory scrutiny.

Binance phone app

Binance raised $200 million at a $4.5 billion valuation.

Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, just raised a whopping $200 million seed round.

It is now valued at $4.5 billion, the company said in a statement. The funding round was led by RRE Ventures, Foundation Capital, Original Capital, VanEck and Circle Ventures.

The funding round quickly sparked speculation that Binance could be gearing up to take the American entity public. The company, which says it’s able to process 1.4 million orders per second, plans to use the funds to boost spot trading and roll out new products and services. It will also be used for marketing and “consumer education initiatives.” In February, the Binance parent company announced a $200 million “strategic investment” in Forbes.

Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder said the company has become profitable after only three years. The company looks to continue growing in the U.S. “from this position of strength, and with an eye toward continuing our rapid ascent alongside the ascent of the crypto industry at large,” he said in a statement.

Binance’s foray into the U.S. market has been controversial. The company is reportedly under investigation by the Justice Department and the IRS over allegations that the exchange has been used for illicit activity. Binance.US is not allowed to operate in five states: Hawaii, Idaho, New York, Texas and Vermont.

Binance.US also has grappled with leadership issues. Shroder was named CEO in September after the abrupt departures of two previous heads.

Brian Brooks quit suddenly in August, citing “differences over strategic direction.”

Predecessor Catherine Coley left in June. Her departure turned into a crypto-world mystery: A well-known figure in industry circles, Coley has not been heard from since she left the company.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Original Capital's name. This story was updated on April 6, 2022.

Benjamin Pimentel

Benjamin Pimentel ( @benpimentel) covers crypto and fintech from San Francisco. He has reported on many of the biggest tech stories over the past 20 years for the San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch and Business Insider, from the dot-com crash, the rise of cloud computing, social networking and AI to the impact of the Great Recession and the COVID crisis on Silicon Valley and beyond. He can be reached at bpimentel@protocol.com or via Google Voice at (925) 307-9342.

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