Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, has become the dominant player in the market, following the collapse of its rival FTX in November. Binance was responsible for 55% of the world’s spot crypto trading in January, an increase of seven percentage points, according to CryptoCompare.
Although Binance declined to buy FTX prior to its bankruptcy, several of the exchange’s top executives, including co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, are facing multiple criminal charges. Binance, which claims to have no official headquarters, has come under scrutiny from global regulators over its activities, including being named as a counterparty to Bitzlato, a crypto exchange accused of money laundering by US authorities.
This week, Binance announced it would temporarily halt bank transfers in US dollars, without giving a reason for the suspension.
The growth of Binance comes at a time when the crypto market is experiencing an upturn, with the size of the market recently surpassing $1tn for the first time since November and digital tokens such as Bitcoin and Ether rising by 40% and 30% respectively.
Meanwhile, Binance’s rivals have struggled to keep pace, with US-listed Coinbase increasing its share of the spot market by less than one percentage point, and Kraken and Crypto.com experiencing declines in market share. Binance has also increased its share of exchange-traded crypto derivatives, rising from 58% to 61% since November.
To attract non-US customers, Binance has recently bought Sakura Exchange BitCoin and invested in South Korean crypto exchange Gopax.