Binance.US, the US-based spinoff of Cayman Islands-registered cryptocurrency exchange Binance, secured $200m in seed funding on Wednesday from investors including digital payment platform developer Circle.
RRE Ventures, Original Capital, Foundation Capital and VanEck filled out the round alongside unnamed others. Circle participated through corporate venturing unit Circle Ventures and the round valued the company at $4.7bn post-money.
Launched in 2019, Binance.US allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets. It claims to have doubled its workforce in the past six months and expanded into Louisiana and Connecticut, making it available in 45 states and eight US territories.
The spinoff is managed by Binance’s local partner, BAM Trading Services, and the two entities have a licensing agreement but exist separately. The corporate’s Smart Chain subsidiary formed a $200m fund with gaming and blockchain technology developer Animoca Brands in December 2021 to invest in gaming finance projects.
Binance has not been the only major crypto exchange to see its US branch pull in a nine-figure round this year, with FTX US, a subsidiary of Bahamas-registered FTX, pulling in $400m for its January series A round.
Brian Shroder, chief executive of Binance.US, said: “In under three years, Binance.US has grown into a profitable business that is not only one of the largest and most technologically advanced digital asset exchanges in the United States, but in the world.
“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.
“This funding and valuation validate the strength of Binance.US’s business today, as well as our long-term growth prospects, and will enable us to continue to make our spot trading platform the best it can be while rolling out an ambitious product roadmap.”
