Binance.US plans to raise $50 million, sources say

The U.S. unit of the Bitcoin exchange Binance plans to raise an additional $50 million. CoinDesk reports, citing sources.

In April, Binance.US raised $200 million in a seed round at a $4.5 billion valuation. The company was backed by RRE Ventures, Foundation Capital, Original Capital, VanEck, Circle Ventures, Gaingels, Gold House and a number of other firms.

The new funding will be a continuation of the seed round, not a Series A. Participation will come from “strategic partners.”

CEO Binance.US Brian Shredder, announcing earlier that the company would raise new investments, noted that this would allow the company to enter the crypto-winter from a position of strength.

“Investors are not afraid to put additional funds into us,” he added.

He also said that the company would announce the fundraising in July.

In the context of a market downturn, rival cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, Gemini and Crypto.com, announced staff cuts. The head of Binance.US reassured employees, urging them to ignore the noise.

“There is no world in which we come out of this crypto-winter in a stronger position, given everything we have done to enter it with growing and well-resourced resources,” Shredder said.

Binance.US began operating in the United States in 2019. Shredder assumed the role of CEO in October 2021. In that post he succeeded the former head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency within the U.S. Treasury, Brian Brooks, having worked at the company for about three months.

SEC initiated an investigation into ties between Binance.US and two trading firms affiliated with founder Changpeng Zhao, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In June, against the American platform Binance filed a lawsuit on behalf of investors LUNA and TerraUSD (UST).

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