Binance plans to expand its offering to stocks in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Brazil, while Binance.US is reportedly looking to raise up to $100 million. These distinct projects illustrate the same strategy: going beyond the crypto market alone to build multi-asset financial platforms.
In brief
- Binance.US is reportedly considering a fundraising of $100 million, with a valuation close to $1 billion.
- Binance is exploring adding stocks listed in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Brazil.
- The global platform is already expanding its offering of tokenized stocks and ETFs in certain jurisdictions.
- Both companies are looking to diversify their businesses to reduce their dependence on the crypto market.
- These projects remain subject to regulatory constraints and the necessary authorizations in each country.
Binance.US reportedly targeting $1 billion valuation
Binance.US is looking to strengthen its business amid competition from Coinbase, Kraken and traditional financial platforms. According to reports, the company is preparing a private financing round, the terms of which remain subject to change.
THE main elements reported are as follows:
- Fundraising could reach $100 million;
- Binance.US reportedly targets a valuation close to $1 billion;
- No investors participating in the operation have yet been officially announced;
- World Liberty Financial would have been informed of the project, but is not expected to invest;
- Binance.US has not publicly confirmed the terms of the operation.
The envisaged valuation would represent a sharp drop compared to the previous financing. By 2022, Binance.US had raised over $200 million based on a pre-investment valuation of $4.5 billion. The new potential amount would therefore reflect a discount of around 78%.
This contraction reflects the difficulties encountered after the agreement concluded in 2023 between Binance Holdings and the American authorities. The global platform then accepted more than $4.3 billion in penalties. Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program before serving four months in prison.
Binance.US operates as a legally separate entity from the international platform, although CZ remains a significant shareholder in both structures. The American company is now seeking to regain certain money transfer licenses suspended in several states and is exploring new activities, including predictive markets.
Binance wants to add more international stocks
The global platform, for its part, explores adding shares of large listed companies in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Brazil. Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, presented this track as a response to user requests.
He explained:
Many of our users say they want exposure to, say, the top ten stocks in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan or Brazil. We look at what our users are asking for and we deliver it to them.
This statement describes ongoing consideration, not a confirmed launch. Binance has not communicated a timetable, a list of securities, or a regulatory structure for these new markets. Access will also depend on the customers’ country of residence and the authorizations obtained.
The company already offers US stocks and ETFs in some jurisdictions. In Brazil, eligible users can buy more than 7,000 U.S.-listed securities starting from $5, through Sim;paul and brokerage firm Alpaca. Payments are made in USDC.
Binance also launched its bStocks in June, tokenized representations of American stocks and ETFs. The company claims these products have surpassed $1 billion in assets in four months and generated more than $40 billion in cumulative volume. However, these figures come from Binance and must be distinguished from audited financial data.
bStocks are not accessible everywhere. Their offer is based in particular on a prospectus approved in the Abu Dhabi Global Market and remains limited to authorized users in eligible jurisdictions.
Two strategies to become multi-asset platforms
The Binance and Binance.US projects converge on a model already adopted by several competitors: bringing together cryptocurrencies, stocks, derivatives and predictive markets in the same application. Coinbase has notably strengthened its offering of stocks and financial products, while OKX is also developing tokenized securities.
This diversification allows platforms to reduce their dependence on commissions on cryptocurrency exchanges. When bitcoin falls or volatility decreases, trading activity can slow down sharply. Stocks offer a larger market and potentially less cyclical income.
Richard Teng affirms that Binance thus seeks to better resist different cycles: “we protect ourselves against bad weather”. It also presents tokenization as a way to open global markets to investors who do not have a traditional broker.
This promise comes with constraints. A tokenized share does not always confer the same rights as a directly held share. Its liquidity, legal framework, voting rights and possibility of conversion depend on the issuer and jurisdiction.
The Binance.US fundraising and the international expansion of Binance therefore remain two separate projects. Their common point lies in the desire to transform crypto exchanges into broader financial infrastructures, subject to obtaining the necessary authorizations.
Maximize your Tremplin.io experience with our ‘Read to Earn’ program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.
