coindesk.com
Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has raised over $200 million in its first external funding round at a pre-money valuation of $4.5 billion.
Investors in the seed round were a mix of early stage venture capitalists and crypto-native firms, including RRE Ventures, Foundation Capital, Original Capital, VanEck and Circle Ventures, among others.
“Binance.US intends to go public in the next two to three years at a time that we deem is right for the business,” a company spokesperson told CoinDesk via email.
Launched in 2019, the exchange offers more than 85 tokens and 190 trading pairs for retail and institutional traders.
According to a press release, Binance.US will use the new capital to enhance its spot trading platform, develop of a new suite of products and fund marketing and education initiatives.
In November, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the exchange’s parent company, said Binance.US was raising a “couple hundred million” in a funding round that would “close in about a month or two.”
The valuation for Binance.US is smaller than some of its local rivals. Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.US was valued at $8 billion in a $400 million funding round in January.
After receiving regulatory approval in two new states earlier this year, Binance.US is now available in 45 states and eight territories.
Read more: Crypto’s Night at the Grammys
