In June 2024, on its seventh anniversary, Binance announced that its user base had surpassed 200 million. While the "seven-year itch" may be part of a traditional company's growth curve, for Binance, this "itch" had long passed and had transformed into a strong catalyst propelling industry growth.

One year later, Binance's user base had exceeded 280 million, nearly rivaling the scale of the globally known video streaming platform Netflix. With a similar number of registered users, PayPal took close to 15 years to achieve this milestone. Binance's growth rate far surpasses that of typical emerging tech companies and is achieved even without cryptocurrency being mainstream.

Interestingly, Binance's growth can be compared to current Web2 giants. Tencent's QQ reached over 300 million registered users after 8 years. Taobao, founded in 2003, hit 370 million registered users by 2011. Twitter, launched in 2006, attracted nearly 300 million monthly active users by 2014.

However, in the crypto industry, there are not many companies that have been around for eight years and continue to evolve. Early players like Mt. Gox, Celsius, and Voyager once enjoyed success but fell due to security vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and liquidity crises. According to Messari research, since 2018, over 80% of crypto projects have disappeared or stopped updating within 2 years. This highlights the high-risk nature of the crypto market and showcases Binance's resilience in extreme conditions.

Since becoming the world's largest exchange platform, Binance has consistently led the industry's direction. Binance's value has transcended mere investment and trading, deeply integrating into the daily lives of ordinary people.

At the time of reaching 275 million users, Binance stated that the future of cryptocurrency is no longer a question of "if" but "how fast." This allows us to glimpse how Binance has been leading the industry wave over the past year.

Internal Transformation, Governance Structure Upgrade

In its eighth year, Binance not only saw a leap in business scale but also an upgrade in its governance structure. Looking back at Binance's development, founder CZ is undoubtedly the driving force behind the platform's rise. Under CZ's leadership, Binance built its exchange platform from scratch, swiftly responded to user needs, and led the platform through bull and bear markets.

However, the founder-led style evidently could not adapt to the current complex environment. Under CEO Richard Teng's leadership, Binance is transitioning to a board-led model. Currently, Binance has added independent directors, with the board to be overseen by three independent directors.

Complementing internal transformation is the development of the compliance team. In 2024, Binance recruited over a thousand new employees, with 20% dedicated to strengthening the company's compliance team. The compliance team now exceeds 700 people, with annual spending surpassing $2 billion. In the latest disclosure, Binance has obtained regulatory approvals in 21 jurisdictions, including markets such as France, Spain, Brazil, Australia, and more.

While actively cooperating with regulators worldwide, Binance is also gradually transitioning from a "regulated entity" to a "policy development participant." Binance has participated in the cryptocurrency advisory mechanism organized by the State Bank of Pakistan, providing technical support on exchange security architecture, user identity verification processes, and more. In Kyrgyzstan, Binance signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with its investment agency to accelerate the development of the country's digital asset industry. Kyrgyzstan also announced the appointment of CZ as the National Blockchain and Web3 Policy Advisor.

From a global perspective, Binance is no longer just a subject of regulatory policy enforcement but has become an essential "partner" in helping emerging markets build their cryptocurrency regulatory frameworks.

Introducing Sovereign Wealth Funds, Heading to the Global Financial Core

Eight years ago, Binance was a startup crypto exchange with only a few dozen employees. Eight years later, it has grown into the world's largest cryptocurrency infrastructure network, serving over 280 million users. At this key juncture, Binance has started seeking the participation of sovereign wealth funds.

On March 12, 2025, Binance announced a $20 billion investment from Abu Dhabi's MGX. Of particular significance, this transaction was settled for the first time using the stablecoin USD1 launched by World Liberty Financial under the Trump team.

Abu Dhabi's MGX was jointly founded by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company and Group 42 in 2024. The Mubadala Investment Company was formerly known as the Mubadala Development Company, fully owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

Additionally, the Chairman of MGX's board, Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the Deputy Prime Minister of Abu Dhabi and the National Security Advisor of the UAE. His father is the late UAE's first President, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and his brother is the current UAE President, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Bloomberg has stated that Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan oversees over $1.5 trillion in state and private assets.

Binance has never hidden its global ambitions. Entering emerging markets like the Middle East often means facing not only a complex regulatory environment but also requiring collaboration from local capital, policy resources, and trust systems. The introduction of sovereign wealth funds is not just about acquiring funding, but also about obtaining a pass to the target market.

The involvement of sovereign wealth funds also signifies that Binance has met the standards of the traditional financial system in governance structure, financial transparency, compliance mechanisms, and other aspects. Over the past two years, Binance has continuously strengthened its board governance, built a legal compliance team, and disclosed transparent reports, laying a solid foundation to welcome this type of capital.

MGX's investment may symbolize that Binance is no longer just a cryptocurrency trading platform, but is transforming into a "provider of new financial infrastructure." Looking ahead, the global cryptocurrency industry is moving beyond its grassroots era and entering an institutionalized, compliant, and sustainable new phase. Binance has become a model for the industry in leading this transformation.

Unchanged User Experience

Eight years ago, Binance grew from a small startup team to the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange in less than six months. Behind this rapid rise is the ultimate pursuit of user experience, from a smooth matching engine to responsive customer support, from globally adapted multilingual interfaces to strict asset security requirements. Binance has always regarded user experience as its most core moat.

Many platforms, after growing in size, tend to drift away from users, neglecting product details. However, in the past year, Binance has not only consistently put users first but also continuously iterated on product innovation and user experience, driving forward in terms of professionalism and usability.

In response to the asset management needs of professional users, Binance introduced Fund Accounts, a feature that allows users to create multiple fund subaccounts under one account, achieving trade strategy isolation and risk control module separation. This provides institutional-level management tools for high-frequency traders and clearer asset allocation systems for team collaboration.

Furthermore, Binance has opened up the "Portfolio Margin" feature, which was previously only available to high-net-worth users and market makers, to ordinary users. Through a cross-asset, cross-product margin sharing mechanism, this feature significantly improves fund utilization efficiency, reduces liquidation risks during trading, and allows more users to engage in asset allocation with a higher margin of error.

However, the boundary of product experience has never been limited to the transaction itself. Payment, as a crucial channel connecting the crypto world and real-life, has also become a key focus of Binance innovation. By 2024, Binance Pay has seen a 226% year-on-year growth in active users, becoming one of the world's most popular crypto payment systems. Especially in Brazil, Binance Pay has demonstrated unprecedented localization capability. By integrating with Brazil's national instant payment system Pix, Binance Pay allows users to convert cryptocurrency to Brazilian reais and complete instant transactions directly through the Binance app, without the need for traditional banking steps.

It is worth noting that this is also the first time Binance has achieved integration with a national-level payment system. As the largest economy in Latin America, Brazil has long faced issues such as inadequate bank account coverage and high remittance costs, making crypto payments an important alternative in the face of real needs. This collaboration between Binance and Pix not only brings unprecedented convenience to Brazilian users but also sets an example for other regions in economic development, demonstrating how to improve the current state of traditional payment systems through crypto financial infrastructure.

Now in its eighth year, Binance is working hard to bridge the gap between traditional finance and blockchain finance. On one hand, it continues to invest resources in strengthening its global compliance system. On the other hand, it is constantly refining its core product experience, catering to the diverse needs of both advanced users and ordinary investors. With the support of sovereign funds like MGX, Binance is evolving from a trading platform into a key cornerstone of global crypto finance, driving the industry towards a more mature and standardized direction.

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