Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is a global company that operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies.
Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading software. Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan shortly before the Chinese government restricted cryptocurrency companies.
Binance subsequently left Japan for Malta and currently has no official company headquarters.
Binance has been the subject of lawsuits and challenges from regulatory authorities throughout its history. As a result, Binance has been banned from operating or ordered to cease operations in some countries, and has been issued fines. It has been alleged that Binance could be used as a funding mechanism for terrorist groups.
In November 2023, the company pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court to money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, and sanctions violations. In 2021, Binance was put under investigation by both the United States Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service on allegations of money laundering and tax offenses.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ordered Binance to stop all regulated activity in the United Kingdom in June 2021.
That same year, Binance shared client data, including names and addresses, with the Russian government.
Binance’s BNB
BNB (Build’N’Build) is a token on the BNB chain. It was originally called Binance Coin when it was launched in July 2017, for users to pay fees on the company’s platform.
By 2021, BNB had the third highest market capitalization among cryptocurrencies. The token was initially on the Ethereum network, then moved to BNB Smart Chain when it was released in September 2020.
In February 2022, the company changed the token’s name to Build’N’Build. At that time, Binance Smart Chain was also renamed to BNB Chain.
BNB Chain had previously been criticized for being overly centralized, which had led to several exploits on the network. BNB had 44 validators As of October 2022.
[…] XRP Ledger is a cryptocurrency platform launched in 2012. The XRPL employs the native cryptocurrency known as XRP, and supports tokens cryptocurrency or other units of value such as frequent flyer […]