Binance

• 1. Founding And Global Expansion

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  Changpeng Zhao founded Binance in 2017 within the borders of China. He had previously built high-frequency trading software for stockbrokers at Fusion Systems, which he started in Shanghai in 2005. The company moved its servers and headquarters out of China just before the Chinese government banned cryptocurrency trading in September 2017. Zhao asked Yi He to join the venture, and she helped rewrite parts of the white paper for a $15 million initial coin offering. Binance subsequently left Japan for Malta after stricter regulations appeared there. The firm never established an official company headquarters and currently operates without one. In January 2018, it held the title of largest cryptocurrency exchange with a market capitalization of $1.3 billion. This position was retained as late as April 2021 despite competition from Coinbase among others. By 2024, blockchain analytics company Arkham Intelligence reported that Binance is the largest crypto-holding entity in the world with over $200 billion in digital assets.

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• 2. Regulatory Battles And Fines

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  Binance has been the subject of lawsuits and challenges from regulatory authorities throughout its history. In June 2021, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority ordered Binance to stop all regulated activity in the United Kingdom. On the 6th of April 2023, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission cancelled the Australian financial services licence held by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd trading as Binance Australia Derivatives. Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority ordered Binance to cease all virtual currency services on the 23rd of June 2023. Canada imposed a $4.32 million fine on Binance in May 2024 for violating money laundering laws. The Dutch central bank announced a €3.3m fine for Binance in April 2022 due to offering services within the Netherlands without being registered. Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission deemed Binance's activities illegal in June 2023. On the 28th of December, India's Financial Intelligence Unit recommended blocking nine crypto entities including Binance. The US Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service put Binance under investigation in May 2021. On the 27th of November 2023, a US judge convicted Binance on multiple charges including violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. As part of the plea deal, the company agreed to pay $4 billion in fines.

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• 3. Criminal Investigations And Scandals

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  In June 2023, Reuters found that Binance had acted as a conduit for the laundering of at least $2.35 billion from hacks. The report also found that $780 million was laundered from the Russian darknet market Hydra. Investigators discovered that €800 million came from investment scams processed through the platform. The Lazarus Group used Binance to launder funds stolen by North Korea to support its weapons program. In February 2023, Reuters reported that over the first three months of 2021, Binance transferred over $404 million from a Binance.US account to Merit Peak Ltd., a company managed by Zhao. Catherine Coley, then-CEO of Binance US, said in messages that no one mentioned the unexpected transfers. On the 1st of March 2023, US Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Roger Marshall wrote a letter describing the exchange as a hotbed of illegal financial activity. They stated it facilitated over $10 billion in payments to criminals and sanctions evaders. Internal communications described transactions by Palestinian militant organization Hamas with the money laundering reporting officer allegedly remarking they see the bad but close two eyes.

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• 4. Leadership Changes And Corporate Structure

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  BNB (Build'N'Build) is a token on the BNB Smart Chain launched in July 2017. It was originally called Binance Coin when it was first released for users to pay fees on the platform. By 2021, BNB had the third highest market capitalization among cryptocurrencies. The token moved from the Ethereum network 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. Binance USD (BUSD) was a US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Paxos on behalf of Binance. Bloomberg reported in January 2023 that Binance-Peg BUSD was often undercollateralized between 2020 and 2021. On three separate occasions, the gap between reserves and supply surpassed $1 billion. In 2022, BUSD became the third largest stablecoin by market capitalization following Tether and USD Coin. The New York Department of Financial Services issued an order to stop minting new BUSD tokens in February 2023. Binance announced it would discontinue support for BUSD in a formal statement issued on the 1st of September 2023.

  In March 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported

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• 5. Cryptocurrency Tokens And Products

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  that the family of Donald Trump through World Liberty Financial entered into talks with Binance. They sought to acquire a stake in the US arm of the business. A pardon from President Trump would simplify a revival of Binance's presence in the US according to unnamed sources cited by the paper. Zhao paid lobbyists $800,000 to lobby for a pardon from Trump for his conviction. On the 23rd of October 2025, Trump pardoned Zhao with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying he had been the victim of persecution by the Joe Biden administration. In November 2025, families of victims of the October 7 attacks filed a lawsuit against Binance alleging the company helped transfer funds for Hamas and Hezbollah. The UAE government's sovereign-wealth fund Mubadala bought a $2 billion stake in Binance in 2025. Abu Dhabi's financial regulator allowed Binance to operate from Abu Dhabi later that year. On the 12th of March 2025, it was announced that the Abu Dhabi government-backed investment fund MGX Fund Management Limited made

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• 6. Political Connections And Pardon Dealings

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  a minority $2 billion investment in Binance.

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