Binance leads the crypto fintech space in terms of market valuation, growing to over $62 billion in less than seven years. Coinbase ranks next to Binance, holding over $47.5 billion. Ripple and Kraken hold the third and fourth spots with valuations of $11 billion and $10.8 billion, respectively.
Binance attracts attention from the crypto community
Binance's market value is now at $62 billion, surpassing Coinbase's $47.5 billion, becoming the number one crypto fintech company by 2024.
The platform launched in 2017, attracting around 1.5 million users by the end of the year. However, by 2018, the exchange had gained around 13.3 million users and 16.5 million users in 2019.
In 2020, the largest exchange added 5 million users, a 1333% increase from 2017. Six months into 2024, the platform had 200 million registered users.
In Q1 2024, the platform’s mobile app reached over 6.3 million downloads, outpacing its closest competitor Revolut by over 21%. Not to mention, the exchange still has the highest 24-hour trading volume, over $13.26 billion as of September 25, 2024.
Coinbase followed, with $1.65 billion in trading, about eight times less than Binance. OKX and Bybit had 24-hour trading volumes of $2.02 billion and $4.58 billion, respectively.
Furthermore, Binance's trading volume market share is 43.8%, while the cumulative market share of all other exchanges is 56.2%.
Binance Faces US SEC Lawsuit in 2023
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against centralized exchange Binance in June 2023. The regulator accused the platform of misrepresenting trading volumes, misappropriating user funds, and misleading investors about market oversight controls. Binance was also criticized for trading several cryptocurrency tokens that the regulator called unregistered securities.
Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the exchange, has not escaped criticism either. The SEC accused him of allowing money laundering on his platform to facilitate criminal activity. In November 2023, the platform agreed to pay $4.3 billion in settlements for its illegal financial violations.
Zhao also pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to four months in a California correctional facility. However, Zhao was released on September 27, two days earlier than his scheduled release date of this Sunday, September 29.
Bitcoin and Binance's BNB token prices have dropped slightly since the start of the trading day following Zhao's early release on Friday.
According to a recent Forbes report, Zhao owns 64% of the total supply of BNB, valuing the entrepreneur at $61 billion by June 2024 and making Zhao the 24th richest person in the world at that time. Zhao's significant ownership of Binance's native coin raised concerns about the token's centralization when the report was published.
