if you want an exchange with a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Find answers to questions from employees about what it’s like to work at Binance.

What is Binance?

Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao (CZ).  Originally based in China, the company is currently based in the Cayman Islands.  The registry was changed when China began to heavily regulate cryptocurrencies and exchanges.

As of 2021, Binance is the largest crypto exchange by volume in the world.  The closest competition for Binance is Coinbase, both of them operate in the crypto market with intuitive, accessible platforms. This breakdown from Cove Markets offers a detailed look at how Binance stacks up against Coinbase.

Binance also has a US-based exchange (Binance.US) that complies with US regulations, but it is still banned in seven US states.  Binance.US, although designed for US residents, is also one of the world’s most popular exchanges.

What is the history of Binance?

Almost since its founding in 2017, Binance has been on the move trying to stay ahead of regulations.  Shortly after its founding, China made a move to ban cryptocurrencies other than its own digital Yuan.

Binance relocated to Japan (September 2017) before the ban, then to Taiwan (March 2018).  In March 2018, Binance announced it was putting an office in Malta because of increasing regulation in Japan.  2019 saw the creation of Binance Jersey designed to capture the European market with a Europe-based exchange.

In February 2020, Malta refuted that Binance was a “Malta-based company.” In its latest landing, Binance is listed at this time as being incorporated in the Cayman Islands and Halé, Seychelles.

Who is CZ?

Chanpeng Zhao is the founder of Binance.  He was born in China in 1977.  His family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the late 1980s.  He graduated from McGill University.

His first work out of college was on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.  He quickly moved to Bloomberg Tradebook where he worked on futures software.

His first company was Fusion Systems, a firm dedicated to fast high-frequency trading.  In 2013, he worked for a number of cryptocurrency firms, including blockchain.info and as chief technology officer for OKCoin.

As of this writing (June 2021), Zhao is worth approximately $1.9 billion.

Why does Binance stand out among crypto exchanges?

The factor that makes Binance stand out is its use of Binance Coin (BNB). This native crypto-currency reduces fees and allows investors to have a payment method that offers its own profitability.

What is Binance Coin (BNB)?

According to Yahoo!Finance, Binance Coin (BNB) is an Etherum-based (ERC-20) token. Released on July 21, 2017, it held an initial coin offering (ICO) of 100 million tokens.

Using BNB on Binance provides some massive advantages:

• Faster transactions than other forms of payment
• Use it to buy and sell a massive variety of cryptos
• Safe and secure with its own blockchain
• Some retailers accept it as payment

What is Binance Smart Chain (BSC)?

In February 2019, Binance introduced Binance Chain.

Binance Chain is designed to be a decentralized native blockchain. This allows Binance to be its own blockchain host thus allowing faster exchanges and higher security levels by keeping it in the Binance family.

The first application it was used for was Binance DEX.  It carried the features of the Binance exchange in a decentralized setting.

Binance Chain sets itself apart from other platforms because it hosts its own secure blockchain system.

Why is there a separate US-based Binance exchange?

The laws and rules governing crypto exchanges vary from country to country.  The laws in the United States are different and somewhat more strict than those in other countries.

This led Binance to set up a San Francisco-based exchange, thus keeping the entire operation in the US where regulators can feel a bit more at ease.

Interestingly, Binance.US is on the top ten list of crypto exchanges, even though US-based investors can’t tap into the global market.

The US-based platform has the same low fees, many coins to choose from, and an easy-to-use platform making it the choice of not only US investors, but investors from all over the world.

What seven states make it illegal to use Binance?

Seven states have made it illegal to trade with Binance US, as well as Binance’s global exchange.

• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• New York
• Texas
• Vermont

Binance doesn’t meet state regulatory policies for these states. Binance says that it’s working with the states, but there has been little movement since 2019.

This is a bit of a blow for Binance because Texas and New York are the second and third most populous states in the US.

When was Binance hacked?

Binance was hacked in April 2019.  Thieves stole 7,000 bitcoin, valued at that time at $40 million. The value of those coins now is over $250 million.  The thieves also stole two-factor authentications and APIs, which would allow them continued access to the site.

According to Wired, Binance was open about the hack, unlike some exchanges that were hacked around the same time.

“The hackers used a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other attacks,” wrote (CEO Changpeng) Zhao.  “The hackers had the patience to wait and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time.  The transaction is structured in a way that passed our existing security checks.”

The hack occurred in the company’s “hot wallet” function, a crypto wallet that’s connected to the internet, unlike their “cold wallets” which are not.  All the losses were covered by the company’s Secure Asset Fund for Users.

What is the recent Binance news?

More recently (June 2021), Binance has seen a lot of movement and activity, both good and bad.

The CFO, Wei Zhou, left the company citing personal reasons.  The markets speculate that it’s because of regulatory troubles the company has been having, but no official reason from Binance has been forthcoming.

Marvel, owned by Disney, is launching an NFT marketplace for its Marvel characters.  This can be seen as an endorsement for Binance since Disney, with one of the world’s most popular brand,s has its pick of platforms.

Binance is launching Dtravel on its website Travala.com.  Dtravel is being billed as a blockchain-powered competitor for AirBnB. It will provide renters and hosts with a decentralized platform for renting places to stay worldwide.

In May, 2021, Binance came under investigation by the US Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service for money laundering and tax offenses. The federal government hasn’t accused Binance of anything illegal, but it is seeking information about people who are using the exchange to launder money and/or hide income from tax collectors.