Binance.US completes $200M seed round to hit $4.5B valuation

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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.

Binance.US has raised more than $200 million in a seed round to reach a pre-money valuation of $4.5 billion, the firm announced to Cointelegraph on Wednesday.

Circle’s venture arm Circle Ventures joined the funding round. “Circle Ventures is excited to invest in Binance.US. We are committed to helping create a robust and competitive digital assets ecosystem,” Circle’s chief financial officer Jeremy Fox-Geen said.

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. “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,” a spokesperson for Binance.US told Cointelegraph.

The new funding also reaffirms the strength of Binance.US’ business, the firm’s CEO Brian Shroder said. He emphasized that Binance.US has grown into a profitable business in less than three years after launching in 2019.

“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,” Shroder stated.

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 U.S. 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 U.S. states like Hawaii, Idaho, New York, Texas and Vermont.

“Binance.US continues to work closely with the remaining state regulatory agencies to secure approvals so it can offer its services across all U.S. states,” the representative of Binance.US said.

As previously reported, Binance.US was originally targeting to launch in 50 U.S. states as of 2021. The firm did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. This article will be updated pending new information.