How Binance Became a Leader in the Crypto Market After Eight Years of Sharpening Its Sword

Deng Tong, Golden Finance

Time flies, and eight years have flown by like flowing water. Looking back over the past eight years, blockchain technology has evolved from a geek experiment to a global financial focal point; the crypto industry has evolved from wild growth to compliant development; and Binance has leapt from a budding startup to a leading global cryptocurrency exchange.

Eight years is enough to transform the crypto landscape and establish Binance, with its unique spirit, as a pioneer in the industry.

Binance's story begins in 2017.

Binance was officially founded in January 2017, and on July 14 of the same year, Binance officially launched its cryptocurrency trading platform.

At the time, the crypto market was in the midst of a bull run, with BTC soaring to nearly $20,000. Established exchanges dominated the crypto trading market. As a rising star, Binance faced a fiercely competitive market, forcing it to consider: how could it strategically seize opportunities to gain market share and overcome the pressures of the exchange war? First, Binance capitalized on the opportunities presented by its first round of funding. From June 26 to July 3, 2017, Binance issued 200 million BNB tokens at a price of $0.10, successfully raising $15 million. This was Binance's first pot of gold—laying the foundation for its technological research and development, promotional activities, and other initiatives. Second, Binance capitalized on favorable international market policies. In April 2017, Japan implemented an amendment to its Funds Settlement Act, recognizing Bitcoin as a means of payment, making it the most dynamic region in the global crypto financial sector at the time. Binance quickly relocated its operations to Japan, a move that paved the way for its internationalization. Since then, Binance has set its sights on global markets, expanding into more countries and regions. After 2018, Binance has entered a period of rapid growth, both in terms of global strategic expansion and in-depth cultivation of industry trends. Furthermore, in line with industry regulatory trends, Binance has taken a major step toward becoming a compliant exchange. In 2018, Binance's global expansion plans included Malta, Bermuda, Uganda, and Singapore. After Richard Teng took over as helmer at the end of 2023, he invested $1 billion to reshape Binance's compliance development path. As of the first half of 2025, Binance has obtained regulatory licenses in 21 jurisdictions, including Argentina, the UAE, France, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Australia, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malta, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, the Bahamas, and the Seychelles. On its journey of global expansion and regulatory transformation, Binance leverages its accumulated technological advantages and user base to continuously advance its presence in key sectors, including underlying public blockchains, DeFi, Layer 2, and stablecoins. This not only lays the technical foundation for its global expansion but also drives rapid industry development and technological iteration and upgrades. In 2010, Binance launched Launchpool, introducing the staking model of platform or mainstream coins for new coin mining to the Binance exchange. This not only helps new projects distribute tokens but also allows users to experience new DeFi methods on a centralized exchange. In September 2020, Binance launched Binance Smart Chain (BSC) based on the Binance Chain. Its high performance and low gas fees made it the world's second largest public chain. Inspired by the Binance Smart Chain, public chains such as Solana and Avalanche continue to promote technological iteration and innovation in the industry. Since then, Ethereum's monopoly has been quietly rewritten. In 2022, Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain were integrated into BNB Chain and operated independently. In June 2023, Binance continued to expand its ecosystem - the opBNB testnet was officially launched and officially went online in September, which also marked Binance's official entry into L2. Binance's official website describes its vision as follows: "Our mission is to become the infrastructure provider for the future of crypto assets." While the long-term future of cryptocurrencies may be unpredictable, the four most noteworthy developments this year are the approval of cryptocurrency ETFs, the surge in crypto IPOs, the growing number of crypto treasury companies, and the surge in stablecoins. In the current market landscape, how will Binance participate and establish its position as an infrastructure provider? Since the US SEC approved a Bitcoin spot ETF on January 10, 2024, with trading commencing on January 11, 2024, ETFs have become a major industry trend. Major institutions are rushing to enter the market, and traditional finance is participating in and reshaping the crypto market. Therefore, the BNB ETF is sure to be Binance's next surprise for investors. In April of this year, VanEck registered the BNB ETF in Delaware and submitted its S-1 filing in May. Prior to this, two BNB ETF products had already launched: the Amun BNB ETP, which is now traded on the Swiss Stock Exchange; and the Swiss-registered 21Shares Binance BNB ETP, which has marketing rights in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Some estimates suggest that if the BNB ETF is ultimately approved, it could bring over $5 billion in incremental capital to BNB. Binance will further serve as a bridge connecting traditional finance and crypto assets, furthering the path of cross-border integration. Besides the ETF proposal, Binance's IPO is also a major event worth anticipating. Although Binance has not yet achieved its IPO goal, the wave of crypto IPOs is clearly unstoppable. On June 5th, Circle listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with its stock price soaring over 160% on its first day. Circle's success demonstrates traditional finance's confidence in the crypto market. Crypto companies are ushering in an era of IPOs, a milestone previously paved the way for traditional finance. As a leading industry figure, Binance's IPO is only a matter of time. Furthermore, BNB's price performance may continue to soar due to reserve investments by crypto treasury companies. On July 28, 10X Capital announced a $500 million private placement, backed by YZi Labs, to establish a BNB treasury. On July 25, Nasdaq-listed biotech company Windtree Therapeutics signed a new $520 million financing agreement to purchase BNB. On June 24, Bloomberg reported that cryptocurrency fund management company Build & Build Corporation was seeking $100 million to acquire BNB. On the same day, Nasdaq-listed Nano Labs announced it would raise $500 million through a private placement of convertible bonds, initially intending to purchase $1 billion worth of BNB, with the intention of holding 5% to 10% of the circulating supply. Driven by a series of positive news, BNB surged above $850 on July 28th, reaching a new all-time high. BNB's surge highlights growing market confidence, with institutional and retail investors viewing BNB as a resilient, long-term value investment asset with strong upward momentum. BNB is becoming a diversifying asset allocation option for crypto treasuries and is gaining favor among investors, rapidly strengthening its market leadership. As more crypto treasury reserve programs are implemented, BNB's market influence and competitiveness will significantly increase. With BNB's growing influence, Binance's renewed entry into the stablecoin market is possible. Competition in the stablecoin market is essentially a battle for "monetary power." One of the key factors supporting the consistent profitability of established stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle is their proven, real-world application scenarios. If Binance achieves a more robust ecosystem and a larger user base in the future, leveraging its market share and stablecoin issuance experience, it will be a natural progression for it to once again enter the stablecoin market and capture a share of the pie. Binance's resurgence is just around the corner.

Strategy, Execution, Users

After eight years of arduous development, Binance has forged a dazzling brilliance through steadfast action and unwavering conviction. A sound strategy, precise execution, and a user-centric approach are the three key elements that have made Binance a success. As mentioned above, Binance has seized every opportunity for development since its inception. From domestic operations to overseas expansion, from public chains to various product lines, Binance has keenly grasped every industry trend and guided its development with sound strategies. Binance remained calm and composed during the 2023 regulatory crisis, unafraid of the test of life and death. Three key actions demonstrated Binance's resilience: Richard Teng, Global Regional Marketing Director, succeeded Changpeng Zhao to ensure stable operations, accepted external oversight from the US government, and paid a hefty $4.3 billion fine. These precise executions underpinned Binance's unwavering spirit. Founder He Yi, who has consistently served as Binance's Chief Customer Service Officer for eight years, has demonstrated Binance's customer-centric commitment and reshaped the service standards of the cryptocurrency industry. From its humble beginnings in 2017 to its dazzling glory in 2025, Binance has weathered bull and bear cycles and the ups and downs of the industry over the past eight years, remaining resilient. This is not only a story of a company's development, but also a revelation of the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry. In the next eight years, Binance will continue to lead the crypto industry's prosperity and expansion, and interpret the magnificent epic of crypto transformation.