Binance.US Valued at $4.5B, Closes $200M Seed Round

Investors in the funding round include VanEck, Circle Ventures, RRE Ventures and Foundation Capital

April 6, 2022 09:00 am

Source: Shutterstock

Binance.US is looking into potential merger and acquisition opportunities, chief executive said
With the capital, the company also plans to double the staff for its product and tech department

Binance.US, the United States partner company of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, secured $200 million in seed financing. The firm notched a $4.5 billion pre-money valuation, according to a Wednesday announcement.

“On the build side, we already have 100 people in our product and tech department. We will double that by the end of the year with this fundraising round,” Brian Shroder, chief executive of Binance.US, told Blockworks.

Investors in the round include VanEck, Circle Ventures, RRE Ventures, Foundation Capital, Original Capital, Gaingels and Gold House.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

Binance.US, which launched in 2019, is a separate legal entity from crypto exchange Binance.com. However, the company can still access its technology through a licensing agreement with its partner company.

Binance banned US-based customers in September 2019 due to regulatory constraints. Via a partnership with BAM Trading Services, the company later announced the creation of Binance.US.

Users in approved states had to complete more stringent know your customer (KYC) rules to access Binance.US than Binance previously required. This includes uploading a photo of a valid ID and providing social security numbers.

Binance.US has expanded its services to 45 states and 8 territories since 2019 — most recently in Connecticut and Louisiana.

Per Shroder, the company is also “scaling up [its] corporate development department” and “evaluating potential mergers and acquisitions opportunities.”

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.

Tags

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2026

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

buy tickets learn more

recent research

Research

Kinetiq Protocol: From LST Infrastructure to HIP-3 Deployer

Kinetiq has established itself as Hyperliquid's dominant liquid staking protocol, holding 82.5% of LST market share with $610M in TVL. The protocol is now expanding beyond its kHYPE staking core into higher take-rate verticals: iHYPE for institutional custody rails, Launch for HIP-3 capital formation, and Markets for builder-deployed perpetuals. We view Markets, launching Jan. 12, as the highest-potential product line given its mechanically scalable, activity-linked unit economics. Near-term revenue remains anchored by kHYPE's KIP-2 fee schedule (~$1.6M annualized), while Markets provides embedded optionality if HIP-3 economics normalize post-Growth Mode. KNTQ's setup is relatively clean: zero insider unlocks until November 2026, 6.2% buyback yield from staking revenue, and cleared airdrop overhang. Risks center on unproven Markets execution, declining kHYPE TVL despite ongoing incentives, and competition from Hyperliquid's native initiatives.

by Shaunda Devens