Binance CEO says crypto exchange saw 40% growth this year in institutional, corporate investors

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has seen a 40% increase this year in institutional and corporate investors joining the platform, CEO Richard Teng told CNBC’s Lin Lin in an interview Wednesday.

“Allocation into crypto by institutions is just at the tip of the iceberg. It’s just beginning, because a lot of them are still doing their due diligence,” Teng said on the sidelines of the Token2049 conference in Singapore. He became CEO in November 2023.

“So we on our own, we are seeing a huge uptick in terms of institutional and corporate investors. We have seen a 40% increase in onboarding in that category throughout the course of this year alone,” he said. Teng did not name specific firms or share how large they were.

The stated growth reflects how so-called big money is warming up to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and now willing to work with an exchange that was hit with a U.S. probe and $4.3 billion settlement.

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire co-founder and former CEO of Binance, stepped down last year as part of the settlement. Zhao remains a major shareholder, Teng said.

Teng noted how Binance has pivoted from a founder-led company to one led by a board with seven directors — a structure he said that regulators are more used to.

Teng joined Binance in 2021 as CEO of the company’s Singapore operations. He was previously CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market and chief regulatory officer of the Singapore Exchange, among other roles.

Bitcoin launched in 2009, paving the way for many other cryptocurrencies based on similar blockchain technology. The tech eliminates the need for a third-party intermediary by quickly creating a permanent and secure record of transactions between two parties.

After years of regulatory uncertainty, the U.S. in January approved the the first exchange-traded funds for spot prices of bitcoin. In July, the U.S. allowed trading of similar funds for ether, another cryptocurrency.

Such regulatory clarity “will give certainty to mainstream users,” Teng said. He attributed bitcoin’s record high earlier this year — above $70,000 in March — to “the effect of institutions coming through.”

He noted how BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has turned from bitcoin skeptic to calling it “digital gold.”

The company and other traditional Wall Street investment firms such as Franklin Templeton have also issued ETFs for bitcoin and ether.

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson told CNBC in May that bitcoin gains at the time were due to “the first wave of the early adopters.” She said she expects another wave of “much bigger institutions” to buy crypto funds.

Bitcoin was trading near $60,440 as of Wednesday afternoon Singapore time.

Teng declined to share a specific price forecast, but noted how cryptocurrency prices tend to “warm up” 160 days after bitcoin goes through a technical event known as “halving.” The last such event was in April.

As of Wednesday, Teng pointed out the market was “nine days away from that 160 days.”

— CNBC’s Ryan Browne, MacKenzie Sigalos and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.