Reports said that Binance.US, the American partner of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading value, has completed its first-ever external funding from investors like Circle Ventures.
It has been reported that Binance.US has raised more than $200 million in a seed round to reach a pre-money valuation of $4.5 billion. Circle's venture arm Circle Ventures joined the funding round.
Jeremy Fox-Geen, the Chief Financial Officer of Circle, said:
"Circle Ventures is excited to invest in Binance.US. We are committed to helping create a robust and competitive digital assets ecosystem."
However, the funding round also involved VanEck, one of the first United States-based asset managers to file for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Other investors included venture capital firms like RRE Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Original Capital as well as firms focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as Gaingels and Gold House. The newly raised funds will help Binance.US expand its spot trading platform with new features and products soon and provide new consumer education projects.
A spokesperson for Binance.US said:
"We are exploring a host of new products and services, be it organically or through strategic M&A, and we expect to bring some of these to market in the near-term."
Brian Shroder, the CEO of Binance.US, said that the new funding also reaffirms the strength of Binance.US’ business. He emphasized that Binance.US has grown into a profitable business in less than three years after launching in 2019.
Shroder added:
"From this position of strength, and with an eye toward continuing our rapid ascent alongside the ascent of the crypto industry at large, we are pleased to close our first financing round."
As part of Binance.US’ expansion plans, the company apparently intends to scale its operations across the United States. The company so far operates in 45 US states and eight territories, expanding into Connecticut and Louisiana earlier this year.
Binance.US also secured the Money Transmitter License in West Virginia in January and subsequently received another one in Wyoming in March. According to the official public information provided by Binance.US, the accounts on the platform are currently not available to users residing in the US states like Hawaii, Idaho, New York, Texas, and Vermont.
The representative of Binance.US said:
"Binance.US continues to work closely with the remaining state regulatory agencies to secure approvals so it can offer its services across all US states."
Thus, as previously reported, Binance.US was originally targeting to launch in 50 US states, as of 2021.
Source: Cointelegraph