In the news from the past few days, many people are aware that Binance's trading volume has surpassed that of Nasdaq, making it the world's number one exchange in fact. Many may not understand that this represents innovation in the financial industry and the development of the cryptocurrency industry. Nasdaq was once like this, and now Binance not only leads in trading volume but also in revenue and profitability, making it the most profitable exchange globally.
When we look back at the rise of Nasdaq, it has some similarities with Binance's rise. Nasdaq was the world's first electronic stock trading market, established in 1971, mainly focused on tech stocks. The rapid development of the internet industry began in 1995, which resembles the current prosperity of the cryptocurrency market. The internet tech bubble back then created a massive wealth effect. After 20 years of development, the seven major U.S. stocks are all internet companies listed on Nasdaq, with a total market capitalization reaching $11.5 trillion.
Initially, Nasdaq's trading volume was not large and far from the height of the NYSE, but after the rapid development of the internet, its weight increased rapidly. The key to Nasdaq's success lies in lowering the financial trading threshold and embracing tech companies to reap the greatest dividends of this era, overtaking the NYSE.
From today's perspective, the rise of Binance is actually similar, lowering the financial trading threshold to the minimum. In many countries, many people do not have stock accounts or even bank cards, but they are indeed users of Binance. Embracing the cryptocurrency industry from 2017 to 2024, in just 8 years of rapid industry development, Bitcoin's market value was less than $100 billion in 2017, and now it has reached $2 trillion, standing shoulder to shoulder with the largest U.S. companies like Nvidia and Apple, with the total market capitalization already reaching $3.5 trillion.
Apart from these, the differences between the cryptocurrency and stock markets have led to an exponential increase in trading volume in the crypto market.
1. Opening an account is simple; you don't even need an account, just having a wallet is enough.
2. Unlimited splitting, no limit on the amount. A single share of Buffett's company Berkshire is $710,000, and high-priced stocks increase transaction costs significantly. Although Bitcoin can reach $100,000, it does not affect us selling just $10.
3. 24/7 trading, trading time compared to U.S. stocks has increased several times.
4. The wealth effect of ICOs in the cryptocurrency world is comparable to IPOs in the stock market, with lower thresholds, faster listings, and greater wealth effects.
5. A plethora of trading tools (grid trading, Martingale, etc.) and derivatives (contract options leverage).
According to publicly available exchange information over the past 30 trading days (from October 7 to November 15, 2024), Binance's total trading volume (spot + derivatives) significantly surpassed data from major global stock markets:
- Binance's trading volume is 10% higher than Nasdaq;
- Binance's trading volume is twice that of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE);
- Binance's Bitcoin trading volume is 4.5 times that of all Bitcoin ETF total trading volume;
- Binance accounts for about 50% of global centralized exchange (CEX) trading volume;
- During the U.S. election week, the total USDT inflow to major exchanges exceeded $20 billion, with Binance leading at $7.7 billion.

From the above data, we can see that what is more frightening than trading volume is the efficiency of capital in making money. Binance publicly disclosed a capital reserve of $120 billion in early November, while accurate information on Nasdaq's reserve stocks is hard to find, but it should be at least 10 times or even 100 times that of Binance. In other words, Binance's money-making efficiency is better than that of Nasdaq.
Looking at where the industry ceiling might be, the total market capitalization of all listed companies on Nasdaq is close to $31 trillion, with over 3,300 listed companies. The total market capitalization of listed companies on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is about $30.03 trillion, and the seven major U.S. stocks total $11.5 trillion. Currently, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is $3.5 trillion, with Bitcoin at $2 trillion accounting for 57%. The structure of mainstream currencies ranked by market capitalization is similar to that of the seven giants, with a potential 10-fold increase.
However, this assumption must be based on projects with strong fundamentals in the cryptocurrency market. What is still lacking is whether there could be future companies that lead technological development emerging from the cryptocurrency market. This is the best landing for the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. In the future, apart from listing and financing on the NYSE and Nasdaq, these rapidly developing companies will have more options. As time progresses, Binance, as a leading coin in the crypto field, not only surpasses Nasdaq in trading volume and profitability but may also surpass it in status. Just like Nasdaq, it relies on lowering the financial trading threshold and embracing the cryptocurrency industry to reap the greatest dividends of this era, which is also why it can become the number one exchange.
