Binance.US is about to announce it has raised more funding in a sign of continued investor interest despite the crypto downturn, CEO Brian Shroder told Protocol.
“In the next month or so, we will announce another close to our round,” Shroder said in an interview on Thursday. “Investors are not scared from investing in us further.”
Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, announced in April that it had raised a $200 million seed round, which valued the company at $4.5 billion.
The new funding comes at a time when crypto is joining a broad market slide. Major crypto players like Coinbase and BlockFi recently announced layoffs while offering a more downbeat view of the market.
But Shroder recently urged Binance.US employees to “ignore noise” as he stressed the company’s strength.
“I wanted to basically set the tone that not only is everything fine for us, but we're actually entering the crypto winter from a position of strength,” he said. “There is no world in which we emerge from this crypto winter not in a stronger position, given all of the things that we have done to enter it fully resourced and growing.”
Binance's challenges may be more regulatory than financial. The SEC is reportedly looking into the parent company's issuance of the BNB token, and it has faced inquiries and other setbacks around the world as it has sought legal sanction for its business. More recently, Binance has made progress in winning regulatory approvals, including in France, Italy and Dubai. And the American unit recently left the Blockchain Association in favor of building up its own government-affairs team in Washington.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE