Binance Gets ₹772 Crore GST Demand Notice

Binance's return to India has garnered attention, but it comes with a ₹772 crore tax demand from Indian authorities. Despite the regulatory challenges, Binance aims to comply.

On 6th of this month, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has been issued a notice in India by the Ahmedabad zonal unit of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The notice demands a Goods and Services Tax (GST) payment of Rs. 772 crore (roughly equivalent to $91.95 million).

Binance allegedly collected fees from Indian customers but did not register under the Indian GST framework. The fees reportedly reached at least Rs 4,000 crore and were transferred to a foreign-based company.

The notice serves as an opportunity for Binance to present its case and align its business operations with India’s legal framework. The Bengaluru Commissionerate will oversee the proceedings, given Binance’s absence of a physical headquarters in India.

As per Indian authorities, Binance users in India had been circumventing tax laws, resulting in lower earnings declarations.

In December 2023, the Indian Ministry of Finance's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued notices to several offshore crypto exchanges, including Binance, for operating illegally in India. The issue centered around Binance not being registered as a "reporting entity" and not submitting routine statements to the Indian Income Tax Department.

Binance paid a fine of approximately $2.25 million to the FIU for violating Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. It also committed to rigorous AML controls and tax reporting processes.

Binance's return is expected to inject new vigor into the Indian crypto market, fostering competition, innovation, and improved services for crypto enthusiasts.

Binance has committed to robust Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls and tax reporting processes. It paid a $2.25 million fine to the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for violating AML regulations. Despite an $86 million tax demand, Binance intends to comply with Indian tax laws. The demand is related to Goods and Services Tax (GST) liabilities due to users circumventing tax declaration.

Binance Pays ~ $2.25 Mn Fine to Restart Operations in India, Registers With FIU-IND

Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has registered with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) and paid a fine of Rs 18.8 crore (approximately $2.25 million) to resume its operations in India, reported several leading media outlets including Gadgets360.com.

This registration marks Binance's 19th global regulatory milestone. The fine was imposed due to non-compliance with India's Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

This move allows Binance to re-enter the Indian market, which is noted for its high level of grassroots crypto adoption. Binance's CEO, Richard Teng, emphasized the importance of aligning with Indian regulations to support the country's evolving virtual digital assets (VDA) market.

Binance supports over 350 cryptocurrencies, including popular ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB. The crypto exchange operates in over 180 countries and serves millions of users worldwide. Notably, Binance is known for its competitive trading fees, which are among the lowest in the industry. 

Binance’s re-entry into the Indian market could have several implications for other crypto exchanges. Binance’s presence, given its global reputation and extensive services, will likely intensify competition. Other exchanges may need to enhance their offerings and customer service to retain and attract users.

Binance’s compliance with Indian regulations might set a precedent, pushing other exchanges to ensure they meet all regulatory requirements. This could lead to a more standardized and transparent market.

Binance’s return could boost overall market confidence, potentially attracting more investors and users to the crypto space in India. This could benefit all exchanges by expanding the user base. To stay competitive, other exchanges might innovate more rapidly or seek partnerships to leverage new technologies and services.

Indian Govt Stance on Cryptocurrency

The Indian government’s stance on cryptocurrencies has evolved significantly over the years, reflecting a balance between embracing innovation and ensuring financial stability. Initially, the government was skeptical about cryptocurrencies, citing concerns over financial stability, investor protection, and potential misuse for illicit activities. This led to a banking ban on crypto transactions in 2018.

The much-anticipated Crypto Bill, which aims to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework, has faced numerous revisions and delays. The bill's contents remain unclear, with conflicting reports about its stance on private cryptocurrencies.

Despite regulatory caution, the government has shown interest in blockchain technology. Initiatives like the Maharashtra Blockchain Sandbox and IndiaChain highlight efforts to leverage blockchain for e-governance and other applications.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working on a digital version of the Indian Rupee, indicating a progressive stance towards digital Currencies.

Overall, the Indian government's approach to cryptocurrencies is evolving, with a focus on finding a balance between innovation and regulation. This ongoing process reflects the global struggle to effectively regulate digital assets while harnessing their potential benefits.

Binance Academy: Data Shows Increasing Interest in Blockchain Amongst Indian Youths

Binance Academy, the educational platform of the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, shared that more youths in India are getting into Blockchain education. Based on data, the majority of Binance Academy users in India are aged between 19 to 25 years old (42%), followed by 20% aged between 31 to 40 years old and 17% aged between 26 to 30 years old. Among Indian users, the Binance Academy modules that saw the highest number of enrolment and time spent are Introduction to Blockchain Technology and Brief history of Blockchain technology.

Launched in 2018, Binance Academy provides a wide range of content including articles, guides, videos, and glossary entries, catering to various skill levels and interests. Closing the knowledge gap is essential when it comes to crypto, which is a nascent industry that is fast-growing and runs on cutting-edge technology. Therefore, Binance offers free educational resources to users through Binance Academy, which is accessible on the website, to bridge the knowledge gap that many blockchain beginners have. Here, we take a look at some of the educational initiatives.

Advancing Web3 Education through Binance Academy

Binance Academy has been working closely across the globe to increase crypto literacy and ramp up efforts on Web3 education. The Binance Academy platform is readily available for everyone with internet access. Data showed that the three Indian states with the highest number of enrolment are namely West Bengal (13%), Uttar Pradesh (11%) and Maharashtra (9%). Aside from allowing easy access to educational resources through the Binance Academy platform, Binance also brought Web3 education to the local institutions.

Last year, Binance held a free webinar called “Crypto for All”, where major finance influencers including Neha Nagar, Aditya Saini, and Kashif Raza introduced the fundamentals of blockchain and crypto. In that year, the “Blockchain for Good” Ideathon was also initiated together with the Inter-Institutional Inclusive Innovation Centre (i4c). The ideathon provided a platform for college students across India to come up with solutions that would make the blockchain ecosystem more inclusive and accessible for all.

Most recently, Binance Academy announced a partnership with Coursera, one of the world’s leading online learning platforms with over 124 million learners globally. This collaboration will bring educational opportunities to everyone globally in the form of a comprehensive suite of learning programs launching over the next few months and beyond.

The programs will cover a broad range of topics and will be tailored to cater to both individuals looking to gain a foundational understanding of blockchain, web3 and crypto technologies for those who wish to build the right skills to pursue a career in the blockchain industry. Successful completion of these courses will earn learners a digital certificate of completion, which can help demonstrate knowledge and open up new opportunities in this rapidly growing field.

Powering Web3 Education with AI-driven Learning Tool

Learning experience today has been redesigned by the proliferation of the use of artificial intelligence technology. To meet the evolving needs of users, Binance introduced Binance Sensei, which leverages the power of artificial intelligence to help users access the wealth of knowledge available on Binance Academy in a more intuitive manner.

Launched in April 2023, Binance Sensei is an innovative AI-driven learning tool that is seamlessly integrated with Binance Academy. Powered by state-of-the-art ChatGPT technology, Binance Sensei has been instructed to deliver relevant and easily digestible information. This user-friendly approach makes it easier than ever to dive into complex topics or quickly grasp new concepts, catering to a wide range of learning styles and preferences. With Binance Sensei, users can now leverage on its AI-powered capabilities to make it the perfect companion for anyone looking to expand their knowledge in the rapidly evolving world of blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Yi He, Binance co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer said: “Education is the cornerstone of progress and innovation. This is a belief that has guided us at Binance Academy, as we strive to make the revolutionary world of blockchain technology accessible to everyone. We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Coursera. Together, we're combining the strengths of two industry leaders with a shared vision - to provide best-in-class education that will drive adoption and build the foundations for Web3.”

Binance Launches New AI-Powered Educational Tool to Make Web3 Accessible to All

Binance Academy, a leading Web3 education platform by Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has launched Binance Sensei, a new innovative AI-driven learning tool for free education on Web3, blockchain, and crypto. To elevate the user learning experience, Binance Sensei aims to transform how users explore and interact with educational content, ensuring a more engaging process.

The new tool enables users to access the wealth of knowledge available on Binance Academy in a more intuitive manner. All users have to do is enter keywords or questions in the interactive chat window. Binance Sensei will then provide users with an easy-to-understand response sourced from Binance Academy's comprehensive collection of articles, guides, and glossary entries, or from other reliable open sources.

In 2023, AI-powered technologies will take the centre stage, revolutionising the way we interact and learn. With its advanced natural language processing and deep learning capabilities, AI will pave the way for personalised and immersive learning experiences, empowering individuals and communities to unlock their full potential. Powered by the advanced ChatGPT technology, Binance Sensei has been instructed to deliver relevant and easily digestible information. This user-friendly approach makes it easier than ever to dive into complex topics or quickly grasp new concepts, catering to a wide range of learning styles and preferences.

Using this interactive tool, people can now effortlessly and confidently navigate through the extensive educational materials offered by Binance Academy. Binance’s goal has always been to facilitate the worldwide adoption of Web3 by creating an ecosystem that is accessible to all, while continually embracing cutting-edge technology. As part of that vision, a special emphasis is given to Web3 education and knowledge-sharing and have established various educational initiatives and resources to help people learn about the world of digital assets.

Leon Foong, Head of APAC at Binance, said: “We are excited to launch Binance Sensei, a product with the potential to significantly improve access to localised blockchain education for everyone. At Binance, we are fully committed to increasing the quality of Web3 and blockchain education for everyone, regardless of their current level of expertise. With this interactive tool, users can now freely explore Binance Academy's vast array of educational resources with ease and confidence."

About Binance Academy:

Binance Academy is a comprehensive free educational platform that offers a wealth of resources on blockchain technology, crypto, and the Web3 ecosystem. Launched in 2018, Academy provides a wide range of content including articles, guides, videos, and glossary entries, catering to various skill levels and interests. Binance Academy's mission is to make blockchain and crypto knowledge accessible to everyone, regardless of their level of expertise. The platform is available in more than 30 languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, and more, reaching millions of users worldwide.

About Binance:

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and crypto infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment, and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com

Binance Renews Commitment to Support Women in Tech

With an increased focus on women-focused education, mentorship and scholarships, crypto exchange aims to level its industry’s gender gap 

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is renewing its commitment to increase the number of women active and employed in Web3. Through women-focused education and mentorship initiatives, Binance to date has invested more than $2 million to support women in more than 10 countries around the world and will increase those efforts in the year ahead.

Binance is committed to creating and funding Web3 education for women.

Binance Charity donated $2 million to fund over 36,000 dedicated Web3 scholarships for women in 2022, and will continue funding courses, programs and scholarships in 2023 with a focus on women and underrepresented communities. With women comprising only 37% of crypto owners¹, education is key to empowering more women to join the industry.

The 2022 scholarships to study blockchain and crypto-related courses at universities, schools and nonprofits were awarded to women in Germany, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, France, South Africa, Australia, and Ukraine. In honor of International Women’s Day, Binance Charity will also make an additional donation of $100,000 to Georgia’s Innovation & Technology Agency (GITA) to support web3 education and training for women. Binance Academy will provide educational content for GITA web3 courses.

Binance is committed to increasing female representation in the workforce.

Binance was co-founded in 2017 by He Yi, making the company one of the few female-founder crypto companies in the world. Less than 5% of crypto founders at top crypto companies are women². As of 2022, the number of female-founded cryptocurrency companies was approximately 292, out of more than 10,000 companies³.

In order to further address the gender gap, Binance has created its first formal internship and graduate programs, which offer more access to careers in crypto for diverse talent, including women. The company also offers guidance and career advice to women through female mentorship programs, talent workshops, educational courses and lectures to share industry experience and insights on how to break into a career in Web3.

"As one of the few female leaders in the industry, I believe that we have a mission, through Binance Charity and Binance Academy, to help more women understand web3 and blockchain technology -- our education and internship programs aim to empower young women with knowledge and skills ready for industry disruption," said He Yi, Binance co-founder and chief marketing officer. "We believe that anyone with ideas can change the world, regardless of gender. We hope these commitments will result in more women on the front line of innovation and bring change to our industry.”

¹ TripleA.io: Global Crypto Ownership

² CoinJournal.net: Women in crypto statistics 2022

³ BCG.com: Gender Diversity in Web3

About Binance

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users, and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com

Free Crypto Education Course with NFT Certificate from Binance Launched

Binance’s educational arm, Binance Academy is offering free courses on the increasingly popular cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Named as "Blockchain For Everyone", the free online course consists of six modules, the beginner course will explain the basics of crypto, blockchain, decentralization, metaverse, crypto trading, and investing strategies. Its successful completion will be awarded a non-fungible token (NFT) certificate.

Binance Academy has initially released beginner courses, with intermediate and expert courses planned to be released in the future.

Initially, the modules will be taught in English, whereas additional languages will be introduced in the following weeks.

Earlier in April this year, Binance has announced several educational initiatives to empower investors in India.

In early this year, Binance also launched its Learn and Earn program on Binance Academy that incentivises learning by allowing users to earn crypto while gaining knowledge about important topics across the blockchain industry.

Cristiano Ronaldo Launches First NFT Collection with Binance

New collection and mystery boxes available November 18 on Binance.com

PARIS, November 16, 2022 – Cristiano Ronaldo’s first NFT collection will be available Friday, November 18 as part of an exclusive, multi-year partnership with Binance, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider. The launch is supported by a global marketing campaign featuring Ronaldo, aiming to give his fans an introduction to Web3 through the world of NFTs.

"We believe the metaverse and blockchain are the future of the internet," said Binance Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer He Yi. "We are honored to collaborate with Cristiano to help more people understand blockchain and showcase how we are building Web3 infrastructure for the sports and entertainment industry."

“It was important to me that we created something memorable and unique for my fans as they are such a big part of my success,” said Ronaldo. “With Binance, I was able to make something that not only captures the passion of the game but rewards fans for all the years of support.”

The inaugural Cristiano Ronaldo NFT collection will drop on November 18 (9 a.m. UTC) and feature seven animated statues with four rarity levels: Super Super Rare (SSR), Super Rare (SR), Rare (R), and Normal (N). Each NFT statue depicts Ronaldo in an iconic moment from his life, from career-defining bicycle kicks to his childhood in Portugal.

• The 45 highest value CR7 NFTs (5 SSR and 40 SR) will be held for auction on the Binance NFT marketplace. The auction will remain open for 24 hours, with NFTs awarded to the highest bidder. Bidding prices will start at 10,000 BUSD for SSR and 1,700 BUSD for SR.
• The remaining 6,600 NFTs (600 R and 6,000 N) will be offered on Binance Launchpad, starting at 77 BUSD for the Normal rarity
• Each rarity level will come with its own set of exclusive perks, ranging from:
• Personal message from Cristiano Ronaldo
• Autographed CR7 & Binance merchandise
• Guaranteed access for all future CR7 NFT drops
• Complimentary CR7 Mystery Boxes
• Entry into giveaways with signed merchandise and prizes

Additionally, new users who register with Binance.com (and complete KYC) will receive a Cristiano Ronaldo Mystery Box. These boxes may include limited-edition Ronaldo NFTs. The CR7 Mystery Boxes are available for the first 1.5M new Binance users who sign up with referral ID RONALDO.

For US-based users, Binance.US - the US partner to Binance.com - is providing a free souvenir NFT for thresholds of USD deposits made on the platform within the promotion period. Users who receive the souvenir NFT will gain whitelist access to purchase future CR7 NFTs. To participate in the promotion, new and existing US users must register here.

Future sets of the Cristiano Ronaldo NFT collection will be available in early 2023. All collections will be available exclusively on Binance.com; follow Binance on Twitter for the latest updates.

About Binance

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users, and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com

Binance Labs Closes $500M Investment Fund to Boost Blockchain, Web3, and Value-Building Technologies

The new fund is supported by teams of leading global institutional investors

Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance - the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume - announced the closing of a new $500 million investment fund. The fund is supported by leading global institutional investors such as DST Global Partners, Breyer Capital, as well as other major private equity funds, family offices, and corporations as limited partners.

The new fund will invest in projects that can extend the use cases of cryptocurrencies and drive the adoption of Web3 and blockchain technologies.

Changpeng Zhao ‘CZ’, Founder and CEO of Binance, said: “In a Web3 environment, the connection between values, people, and economies is essential, and if these three elements come together to build an ecosystem, that will accelerate the mass adoption of the blockchain technology and crypto. The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and founders with the potential to build and to lead Web3 across DeFi, NFTs, gaming, Metaverse, social, and more.”

Since 2018, Binance Labs has invested in and incubated more than 100 projects from over 25 countries. Its portfolio includes industry-leading projects such as 1inch, Audius, Axie Infinity, Dune Analytics, Elrond, Injective, Polygon, Optimism, The Sandbox, and STEPN.

Binance Labs makes investments across three different stages: incubation, early-stage venture, and late-stage growth.

With incubation, Binance Labs aims to connect projects with Binance’s network of resources, experts, and mentors to help them drive successful product development and growth. Binance Labs runs its Incubation Program regularly and is currently supporting its fourth cohort.

Early-stage venture investments include token and equity investments across all sectors of cryptocurrency and Web3, including infrastructure, DeFi, NFTs, gaming, Metaverse, social, and crypto adoption platforms.

Late-stage growth investments target more mature companies looking to scale or bridge into the Web3 ecosystem with the Binance ecosystem as a solid strategic partner.

The $500 million investment fund announced today is expected to be allocated to projects spanning all three stages.

Binance Labs Announces Season 4 of Its Global Incubation Program

Binance Labs, the venture capital and innovation incubation arm of Binance, announced that Season 4 of its global Incubation Program is launching on May 5th. Through the program, Binance Labs supports promising projects in the blockchain space. Over 500 projects applied, and Binance Labs selected 14 that demonstrated the most potential and best fit for the program.

For the past three seasons of the Incubation Program, Binance Labs has incubated numerous market-leading crypto platforms and protocols such as Polygon, Perpetual Protocol, Injective Protocol, SafePal, Cere Network, and Dune Analytics.

Application for Season 4 of the Incubation Program began in January 2022, and concluded in April with a total of 500 applications. Mirroring the increasing growth and diversification of the industry, Binance Labs will be incubating a much broader selection of projects.

Ken Li, Investment Director at Binance Labs, said: “The fourth season of our Incubation Program has attracted very exciting founders who are building across a wide range of use cases. We are thrilled to continue to partner with top teams at the earliest stages to support the broader blockchain industry together."

There are 14 incubation projects that have been selected for Season 4 of the Binance Labs Incubation Program:

Infrastructure:

• FilSwan, a layer 2 cross-chain solution provider for Web3 projects that integrates data, computing and payment into one suite.
• Grindery, a middleware Web3 automation tool for people and organizations to connect dApps & protocols to exchange data, payments & services, starting with DAO payouts & payroll.
• NuLink, a decentralized network that enables privacy-preserving applications developers to implement security and privacy.
• Starton, an API platform that facilitates application connectivity to blockchains, allowing developers to develop Web3 functionalities in their products faster and more securely.

Defi:

• CODA Ventures, a yield generating protocol on BNB Chain that provides users passive access to the best-in-class sustainable yield generating strategies.
• OpenLeverage, a permissionless lending and margin trading protocol, deployed on Ethereum and BNB Chain, that enables traders to long/short any trading pair on DEXs.

Gaming / Metaverse:

• AlterVerse, a BNB Chain native project building an advanced Metaverse.
• ChapterX, an immersive 3D platform that enables users to build fully customizable worlds and avatars.
• CoralApp, a blockchain-based fitness and wellness social platform.
• Gamic Guild, a play-to-earn gaming guild in Africa that gives users a diverse catalog of NFT games.

SocialFi / Creator Economy:

• Qwestive, a community management platform for creators and web3 communities.
• Reveel, a platform for web3 creators to track their portfolio, automate revenue sharing and report on-chain income.

Crypto FinTech

• Playbux, a blockchain-based exchange that integrates real-life cashback points and consumer experiences with metaverse activities.
• Ambrosia, a DeFi savings account that allows any user to invest their fiat savings into stablecoins and earn yield in a simple way.

Jasmine Kong, Investor at Binance Labs, said: “We believe that the Incubation Program provides a great growth opportunity for both start-ups and Binance Labs. The team is constantly learning to develop the early stage projects and upgrading the program to offer future projects with more tailored solutions.”

In the coming months, Binance Labs will launch applications for Season 5 of its Incubation Program, which is expected to kick off in Q4 of 2022. As one of the benefits of being part of the Binance Labs ecosystem, all portfolio company founders, mentors or Binance alumni can directly recommend projects to fast-track into the final interview for incubation selection. Interested applicants can apply for the next seasons.

Binance to Drive Awareness of Crypto and Blockchain in India with Several Educational Initiatives

Foster a mindset of knowledge-building and research by providing an Open Access to Blockchain and Crypto Learnings

Binance, the global blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange, has announced several educational initiatives to empower investors in India. Binance recognises the importance of investor education and has made it a priority to drive awareness of crypto and blockchain across India. Given the growth witnessed by crypto in India and the strategic importance of the geography, investor education has been an area of concern for multiple stakeholders including regulators and policymakers.

Binance is committed to building awareness around blockchain technology and cryptocurrency among primarily the student community. Through three key educational initiatives, Binance aims to provide open access to blockchain and crypto learnings.

As a follow up to the Binance Campus BUIDLers Program that was launched in October 2021, Binance has recently partnered with Inter Institutional Inclusive Innovation Centre (i4c) to initiate the ‘Blockchain for Good’ Ideathon, that provides a platform to students across Indian colleges to come up with solutions that would make the blockchain space more inclusive and accessible for all.

Binance recently launched its Learn and Earn program on Binance Academy that incentivises learning by allowing users to earn crypto while gaining knowledge about important topics across the blockchain industry.

Binance is hosting a webinar that is free and open for everybody named ‘Crypto for All’ on the 1st May at 6 pm IST, where major finance influencers including Neha Nagar, Aditya Saini, and Kashif Raza will be teaching the basic concepts of Blockchain and crypto, while demystifying myths around crypto trading. Along with providing certificates issued over blockchain by Binance NFT to all attendees, select winners will receive grand giveaways in Bitcoin and Binance Coin (BNB).

Leon Foong, Head of APAC at Binance said, “At Binance, we believe in financial freedom through crypto adoption. India has one of the largest populations in the world with a median age of 28. This represents a huge opportunity for us to play our role in educating the future innovators and builders of India, especially students, and equip them with the relevant blockchain and crypto knowledge to build a path towards financial freedom. Today’s generation also plays a significant role in imparting technology-related knowledge to their elders and play a crucial role as blockchain advocates. With Binance’s vast resource of academy content and our Learn and Earn program, we hope to create the right incentives for users to do more thorough research and make better informed investment decisions."

Binance aims to create further courses to enable students to define their own career and entrepreneurial futures in the blockchain industry. These skills will be crucial in helping the future generation navigate the new world of web3.0 and smart contracts.

As an extension of its commitment to the student community, Binance had partnered with IIT Delhi as a title sponsor for its cultural fest Rendezvous. It showcased interesting use cases of blockchain technology ranging from NFT tickets, certificates, Fan tokens, POAP, and more during the fest.

About Binance

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment, and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com

RocketX Exchange Integrates 1inch and Binance for Seamless Aggregation of CEX & DEX Exchanges

With 1inch integration, RocketX Exchange has taken a step to simplify crypto trading through its ‘All in One’ crypto trading app.

RocketX Exchange – the first Blockchain platform to aggregate Centralised and Decentralised Crypto exchanges has achieved a major milestone in driving mass adoption of Crypto across the globe. The platform has simplified crypto trading with 1inch integration that supports 7 networks altogether – Ethereum (ETH), BNB Chain (BSC), Polygon (Matic), Avalanche (AVAX), Gnosis (xDAI), Arbitrum & Optimism.

In the present trading scenario, crypto exchanges are plagued with liquidity issues leading to slippage issues. At any given point in time, users would never know which exchange provides the best rate for the token which causes liquidity issues. Furthermore, many networks are available having DEXs which makes it difficult even for an experienced trader to navigate multiple networks and trade their favourite tokens, resulting in inaccessibility. RocketX Exchange endeavours to address this problem by aggregating both the centralized and decentralized exchanges to help users with the best rates for ANY token across 150+ exchanges on a single platform.

Commenting on 1inch integration, Davinder SIngh, Co-founder of RocketX Exchange said, “By integrating both 1inch and Binance, we have established the base of the product and successfully addressed major problems existing in the current crypto trading market. As we keep building the product and aggregating more and more exchanges on both CEX and DEX, we believe that RocketX Exchange will be the “All-in-one” crypto trading app that drives the mass adoption of Crypto globally.”

Incepted in 2021, RocketX Exchange is the first CEX & DEX aggregator protocol. It supports Multi chain trade with Cross-Chain Swaps and Cross-Chain Bridges between 10+ leading networks. The platform fetches rates from DEXs and the world’s biggest centralized exchange – Binance, with $21B liquidity. Furthermore, it charges the industry's lowest fee of 0.05% on Swaps, when there is a better rate available from CEX.

Besides this, the platform also provides users complete control over their assets with a fully non-custodial solution that supports a range of digital wallets.

“One can never rely on an exchange or any service provider with one's crypto, however big they are. We at RocketX Exchange empower our users to have 100% control of their funds by allowing users to own the private keys which is the key to the ownership of tokens,” he added.

Additionally, the platform also supports Cross-Chain Swaps and Cross Chain Bridges of native assets between leading networks. This makes RocketX Exchange the only app for trading any token across chains with the best prices and minimum slippage. By supporting swaps as well as multiple networks, RocketX Exchange makes it easy for the user to swap any token across different chains using a single platform.

About RocketX

RocketX exchange is the first to aggregate both the Centralised and Decentralised Crypto Exchanges and makes it easy for the user to find the best rates to swap ANY token across different exchanges with lowest gas fee (Save up to 80%). It supports Multi Chain Trade via Cross Chain Swaps & Bridges b/w the leading chains.

UN Refugee Agency Accepts 1st Stablecoin Crypto Donation of $2.5 Mn from Binance Charity to Support Ukraine Efforts

USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, accepts its first stablecoin crypto donation towards the organization’s humanitarian support for families forced to flee Ukraine to neighboring countries. The $2.5 million USD equivalent from Binance through Binance Charity. The BUSD donation is further demonstration of how cryptocurrency is playing a key role in raising vital funds and providing humanitarian aid for the crisis in Ukraine.

Stablecoins bridge the world of cryptocurrency and fiat currency together as their prices are tied to a reserve asset like the US dollar or gold.

The donation will go towards providing humanitarian, legal and social assistance including psychosocial support and emergency shelter to people in need. More than 10 million people have already been displaced due to the crisis. Four million people have found safety in neighbouring countries like Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary, while millions more have been forced from their homes but remain inside Ukraine.

“Binance Charity’s commitment to the families fleeing the war in Ukraine shows the innovative philanthropic power of crypto in action,” said Anne-Marie Grey, Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR. “This generous support will make a life-changing difference for families forced to flee, and more importantly, it shows families that a caring and committed global community is stepping forward to help during their darkest times.”

Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity, said: “Every day we see more casualties, more destruction, more lives lost. Our hearts ache for the people of Ukraine. We are proud that we’ve been able to work with UNHCR to deliver its first BUSD crypto donation. UNHCR’s tireless efforts and second-to-none experience in assisting refugees, makes them an obvious choice to support as part of our $10 million USD in crypto donations."

As the war in Ukraine continues, the needs of of those fleeing grow. Binance Charity’s donation comes at an important time as UNHCR continues working with government authorities in the region, other UN agencies, local community groups and other partners to provide humanitarian assistance wherever possible.

UNHCR delivers assistance to communities inside Ukraine when it is safe to do so and is closely tracking negotiations for safe passage. UNHCR is providing cash assistance so families can purchase basics like food, rent and hygiene items and also delivering core relief items and emergency shelter. Additionally, teams inside Ukraine are setting up reception and transit points for internally displaced people and facilitating access to legal aid and psychosocial care.

In neighbouring countries, UNHCR continues to work with national authorities to provide cash assistance, strengthen reception capacity and implement Blue Dots — children and family protection support hubs — in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners.

Outside of Ukraine, UNHCR continues to work with national authorities in neighboring countries to strengthen reception capacity and implement Blue Dots — children and family protection support hubs — in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners.

This is the latest donation following Binance’s $10 million USD commitment to help people impacted by the crisis in Ukraine. Through Binance Charity, more than $4.5 million has already been donated, bringing the total amount to $7 million including the funding to USA for UNHCR. The remaining $3 million USD donation is being finalized and will be announced shortly.

In addition to the $10 million USD commitment, Binance Charity launched a crowd-funding platform, which has raised approximately $900K USD from the crypto community. This money will also be allocated to humanitarian efforts.

Breakdown of donations from Binance through Binance Charity to date:

• $2.5 million USD to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency: We’re supporting UNHCR to help affected people in the region by providing humanitarian, legal and social assistance including psychosocial support and emergency shelter to people in need.
• $2.5 million USD to UNICEF: towards the needs of children and their families who have been forced to flee Ukraine; current actions include pre-positioning of critical supplies, providing safe drinking water, supporting families on the move, child protection, emergency educational resources and psychosocial support.
• $1 million USD to People in Need (PIN): towards direct assistance to refugees in Slovakia and those displaced in Ukraine. PIN is operating at 3 border points across Slovakia. The type of humanitarian aid provided ranges from food, NFI, WASH, shelters, PSS, and cash assistance. They are also helping to coordinate border crossings and disseminate information via hotlines, leaflets and QR codes for people who have just arrived. PIN is also standing by ready to resume operations in-country as soon as the situation allows, this will focus on providing access to the most basic needs such as food aid, hygiene items, cash assistance and support of IDP facilities.
• $500 thousand USD to iSans: towards providing temporary housing and resettlement assistance to Ukrainian refugees entering Poland. This includes providing meals, help with transportation costs, heating and psychological and legal support.
• $250 thousand USD to Rotary Kyiv: towards helping people displaced within Ukraine. Rotary are one of a few organizations still able to provide support in-country, with this donation going towards sleeping bags, mattresses, warm blankets, first aid kits and food supplies.

Binance Hires Ex Microsoft and Agoda Product and Engineering Execs to Bring Web3 to the Masses

Binance, the global blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest ecosystem, today announced it has appointed Rohit Wad, former Corporate VP at Microsoft, as its CTO, and Mayur Kamat, former Agoda VP of Product, as Head of Product.

Wad will be responsible for engineering scalable, compliant and fast Web3 services and solutions. He will also be responsible for ensuring the continued security, stability, and liquidity of the exchange while meeting the evolving regulatory compliance requirements across regions where the platform is available. In addition, Wad will focus on significantly expanding the engineering team to accelerate the organization’s progress.

Kamat will lead every aspect of Binance’s product strategy, roadmap and development. He will guide the team to build products that will bring mass adoption to crypto and lower the barrier to entry to Web3 technology. Both Wad and Kamat will focus on making Web3 services more accessible and usable to everyday people and driving innovation within the Binance ecosystem.

"My career has been focused on improving everyday life with the power of technology," said Kamat. “Less than 10 percent of the addressable internet population owns crypto assets. Our goal is to bring the benefits of Web3 technology to the masses by making the product simple enough that anyone in the world can use them, including those who are new to it. I am humbled to play a small part in providing financial freedom and supporting inclusion to billions of people.”

"We are working on many Web3 experiences and solutions that will be transformative to billions of people, starting with the freedom of money," said Wad. "I am excited to be able to bring the amazing advances and potential of Web3 technology to everyone."

Wad joins Binance with over 30 years of experience in engineering and development. Prior to Binance and Microsoft, Wad served as an Engineering Director at Facebook and Google. Wad was one of the key players behind the development of Microsoft Teams and Skype.

Kamat brings to Binance 20 years of experience in tech and product. Previously, Kamat served as the VP of Product at Agoda where he was in charge of the company’s supply, finance and marketplace products. Prior to that, he led product teams at Hiya and Google. Kamat was behind the product team that developed Gmail for mobile, Android for Work, Hangouts, Google Voice, and Windows DRM.

Binance Launches EduFi - Learn and Earn Program - to Educate Users on the Blockchain Industry

Binance announced the launch of its Learn and Earn program on Binance Academy – a leading portal for crypto and blockchain education. This initiative will allow users to earn crypto while learning about important topics across the blockchain industry.

Any users who complete the identity verification process and comply with the Binance Terms of Use are eligible to participate. There is a predetermined amount of crypto that users can earn. Crypto rewards are given to users who complete a number of educational tasks, including reading articles, watching video clips, and passing quizzes.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance, said: “Crypto is changing the world. We’ve already seen GameFi, where people earn from playing games, and now we have created Binance EduFi, where people can earn while they learn. We want to give our users the best tools to improve their understanding of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency projects, so they can make more informed investment decisions.”

The Learn and Earn program will be hosted on a regular basis. Starting on March 25th, Terra (Luna, ANC, UST), WOO Network, Polkastarter (POLS), and ANKR are the projects included in the first batch of the Learn and Earn program. Within the predetermined $600K rewards, users can earn tokens depending on the activities they complete. The following rounds are to be announced at a later date.

Jack Tan, CEO of WOO Network, said: “Education is at the top of every product’s user funnel, bringing awareness and traffic to an application. On the user side, Binance Learn and Earn will help users get more value from products and investments, making this an important two-way relationship that can drive growth for the industry.”

Binance Academy will continue to expand the Learn and Earn program, adding high-quality projects and industry partners from different fields.

Blockchain-based Open Source Software Maker Tea Raises $8 Mn in Funding Led by Binance Labs

Tea Raises $8 Million Led by Binance Labs to Create New Open Source Software on the Blockchain

Tea, a new company building an open source software platform on the blockchain, today announced an $8 million dollar seed funding round led by Binance Labs, the venture capital and innovation incubator of Binance, the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider.

Open source has been foundational for the Internet, underpinning everything online for more than twenty-five years. Tea Co-Founder and CEO Max Howell created the open-source software package management system Homebrew, also known as “brew,” which grew into the most contributed‐to open source software program in the world. Homebrew has been used by tens of millions of developers worldwide and has served as the backbone for the largest technology corporations to build their products without directly contributing to its development. 

Tools like Homebrew are uniquely placed, underneath all developer tools, and thus can manage a fair and equitable transfer of value to the entire open source ecosystem. Tea represents a substantial evolution of traditional open source software, creating a new category in which these volunteer developers are compensated and involved in open governance. 

Tea controls the graph of open source that underpins all modern digital infrastructure. Packages will be released on‐chain as NFTs with their dependency metadata included. As developers use Tea, governance tokens are available according to their actual, real‐life usage in order to drive the entire open source ecosystem.

“Web 2.0 accrued fortunes on the backs of free labor by unpaid open source volunteers,” said co-founder Max Howell. “web3 has the power to change this. There is so much that can be done in this space that nobody has tried before. Tea is an approachable, intuitive collection of tools that will work with both Web 2.0's Internet of today along with web3.”

Tea is decentralized at the day-to-day development and installation layers, which increases reliability and provides a native, built-in “version management” for every tool in the stack. Tea's decentralization also offers tangible benefits to ecosystem security. Every layer of apps and dapps is signed and verified on‐chain.

"We’re not changing the nature of open source. It’s still free,” explained co-founder Timothy Lewis. “Software wants to be free, but programmers need to be compensated. We’re bringing the creator economy to open source. Our vision is to fix how open source is funded and create the tools that will accelerate its creation for the benefit of all humanity."

Ken Li, Investment Director at Binance Labs, said, “We are excited to support Max, Tim and team, as part of our overall investment push into the infrastructure levers that shift Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. We believe the Tea team has the potential to introduce new paradigms that allow open source compensation without direct payment. The platform can solve a core problem for the open-source software development community by utilizing of the key value proposition of decentralized token economies."

This funding will be used by Tea Inc. to hire additional resources to continue work on the protocol, software, and the development of the community. Additional funding participants include XBTO, Lattice Capital, Darma Capital, Coral Capital, Woodstock, Rocktree, SVK, and MAKE services. 

To learn more, visit https://tea.xyz.

About Tea Inc.

Tea Inc. is a Puerto Rico-based corporation that is building the open source toolkit that makes development possible and builds the internet: it’s “brew2 for web3”. Developers can work on any platform, CI/CD on any platform, deploy on any platform; Tea abstracts this detail away so developers can get on with the work that matters. Those interested in joining the team fixing how open source is funded and creating the tools that will accelerate its creation for the benefit of all humanity should reach out on Discord or GitHub. 

Binance Gets Dubai’s Virtual Asset License To Enable Its Operations in the Region

 

Binance is among the first global VA exchanges to receive a fully governed license to offer prudentially regulated crypto trading services to sophisticated investors

Binance today announced that it has been granted a Virtual Asset License to enable it to operate within Dubai’s ‘test-adapt-scale’ virtual asset market model as a base for expansion into the region. Under the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) initial regulatory phase, which includes rigorous regulatory oversight and mandatory FATF compliance controls, Binance will be permitted to extend limited exchange products and services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers.

 All licensed VARA service providers will be monitored progressively to open access to the retail market.  In addition to its exchange operations, Binance will anchor a blockchain technology hub in the Dubai World Trade Centre, to seed new talent and build a vibrant blockchain ecosystem.  

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance, said: “High standards of regulation and compliance are critical to the development and maturing of the global crypto and blockchain industry, which is why our team has been working tirelessly to demonstrate how we meet and exceed the requirements of regulators such as the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority.”

"Binance is appreciative of being awarded this license in such a progressive regime, targeting uncompromised governance and market security. The collaborative way in which Binance has been engaged to bring proven industry compliance leading experience to the Dubai ecosystem is indicative of the unique operating model that the VARA is creating for the global industry."

Commenting on Binance joining the new Virtual Asset ecosystem, Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai World Trade Centre Authority that houses VARA said, “The new VARA is symbolic of Dubai’s confidence in the potential of this future economy driver - if introduced with prudence and legitimacy. To this end, our regime is structured to catalyse collaboration, foster innovation, and most critically secure public interest. Onboarding Binance within the VARA is reflective of their commitment to the Dubai agenda - to provide the global industry the certainty of governance, enabled by ‘shared industry responsibility’ and legislative security for society.”

Dubai is the first global economy to have set up a specialised regulator for the VA sector and will be further developing this VARA governed ecosystem of credible, reputable and innovative international leaders. The VARA issued Virtual Asset Exchange License ensures Binance will be able to operate its regional business from Dubai in the newly announced regulatory ecosystem that is subject to comprehensive legislation and internationally applicable policy frameworks. 

About Binance 

Binance is the world’s leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com 

Binance Smart Chain Announces ‘Beyond Binance’ Evolution and Rebrand to BNB Chain

Binance Smart Chain (BSC), one of the world's largest community-driven, open-sourced and decentralized blockchain ecosystems, has today announced its rebrand to BNB chain

Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain become BNB Chain

BNB chain will be multi-chain

Through the concept of MetaFi, BNB Chain aims to build the infrastructure to power the world’s parallel virtual ecosystem

Binance Smart Chain (BSC), one of the world's largest community-driven, open-sourced and decentralized blockchain ecosystems, has today announced its rebrand to BNB chain. A move to spotlight its connection with the BNB token, the decentralized evolution of the BNB ecosystem, and showcase how BNB has transcended Binance in terms of its use cases.

BNB, which stands for “Build and Build” (formerly called Binance Coin), is the blockchain gas token that “fuels” transactions on BNB Chain. BNB also acts as a governance token, as it is necessary to participate in BNB Chain’s decentralized on-chain governance.

BNB Chain is comprised of:

• BNB Beacon Chain (previously Binance Chain) - BNB Chain Governance (Staking, Voting)
• BNB Smart Chain (BSC) (Previously Binance Smart Chain) - EVM compatible, consensus layers, and with hubs to multi-chains.
• With this name change also comes more advancements to benefit users, projects and developers connected to the BNB Chain community.

“BNB Chain will embrace large-scale applications, including GameFi, SocialFi and the Metaverse. In particular, scaling from one chain to multi-chain, improving scaling solutions and expanding the validator set of BSC from 21 to 41 (with 20 validators functioning as candidate block producers),” said Samy Karim, BNB Chain Ecosystem Coordinator.

Through MetaFi, the BNB Chain community will aim to build the infrastructure that powers the world’s parallel virtual ecosystem. (“Meta” for metadata, and “Fi” for DeFi), is a concept that provides advanced and sophisticated DeFi infrastructure to all the different types of projects such as metaverse, GameFi, SocialFi, Web3, and NFTs and puts them under one umbrella – MetaFi. 

MetaFi is a future all-encompassing ecosystem that promises to deliver a paradigm shift that will enable seamless interoperability between different projects and blockchains. The combination of these different blockchain projects enables a full-fledged parallel ecosystem serving users from around the globe. BNB Chain aims to build the infrastructure to bring the parallel virtual ecosystem to life.

Above all, BNB Chain remains a community-driven, open-sourced and decentralized ecosystem.

BNB Chain is a community-driven, decentralized and censorship-resistant blockchain, powered by BNB. It consists of BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain (BSC), which is EVM compatible and facilitates a multi-chain ecosystem. Through the concept of MetaFI, BNB Chain aims to build the infrastructure to power the world’s parallel virtual ecosystem. For more information on BNB Chain visit https://www.bnbchain.world

Binance Labs Concludes Season 3 of Incubation Program with a Virtual BUIDLer Day

Binance Labs, the venture capital arm and innovation incubator of Binance, the world’s leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, has today announced a ‘BUIDLer Day’ to conclude another successful season of its incubation program. Now in its third season, the Binance Labs Incubation Program focuses on discovering and supporting the most promising founders and blockchain projects worldwide.

Bill Chin, the Head of Binance Labs Fund, said: “The Binance Labs Incubation Program nurtures budding entrepreneurs that can bring mass adoption of crypto and innovation within the blockchain ecosystem. Participating projects gain access to dedicated resources, industry exposure, valuable networks, and mentorship. Through the Incubation Program, we hope to help future industry key players develop and find their product market fit in the global blockchain landscape. Now that Season 3 is approaching the end, we are actively recruiting for Season 4 of the Incubation Program.”

Launched in 2018, the Binance Labs Incubation Program has incubated 25 projects. The first two seasons of the Incubation Program have produced leading and well-positioned blockchain projects, including Polygon, Perpetual Protocol, Dune Analytics and more.

Season 3 of the Incubation Program began in November 2021, and will conclude on January 25, 2022 with a BUIDLer Day. After 8 weeks of incubation, the BUIDLer Day would allow the nine incubation projects to formally pitch their progress and traction to an audience of investors, mentors and other industry figures. Unlike in past seasons, this invite-only pitch event will be held virtually for Season 3.

Ken Li, Investment Director at Binance Labs, said: “The third season of the Incubation Program saw talented projects coming from different sectors, such as gaming, NFTs, DeFi, trading platform, and more. BUIDLer Day will be the perfect opportunity for the projects to showcase their growth to prominent global investors. We believe that all nine projects have the potential to push the blockchain industry forward in meaningful ways."

The nine projects that were selected and participated in Season 3 of the Incubation Program are Mint Club, Raydius, GAT Network, Wombat Exchange, Tranching Protocol, SkyArk Studio, Bird, Copycat Finance, and Block Ape Scissors.

To enrich the Incubation Program experience, Binance Labs invited mentors from various backgrounds and expertise. The regular weekly fireside chat sessions were joined by Binance CEO CZ, CMO He Yi, Polygon Co-Founder Sandeep Nailwal, Zokyo CEO Hartej Sawhney, CertiK Co-Founder Prof. Ronghui Gu, BBS CEO Eyal Hertzog, and Animoca Brands Chairman Yat Siu.

Throughout the Incubation Program, the incubation projects also had individual sessions with Lisa Wu (Sky Consulting), Rudy Koch (Mythical Games), Leo (Capstone), Kinsey Cronin (TRM Labs), Aniket Jindal (Biconomy), Veronica Wang (SafePal), and Cryan Pellegrino (LayerZero). The whole Binance team also actively got involved in the development of the incubation projects, with 12 internal mentors from Binance Labs, Binance Smart Chain, Binance Research, Binance NFT, and CorpDev.

Application for Season 4 of the Binance Labs Incubation Program is open and available here.

Binance Becomes the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Industry’s 1st to Join the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA)

Binance, the world's leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, today announced that it has joined the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA), a nonprofit corporation focused on identifying, validating, mitigating, and neutralizing cybercrime threats. Binance is the first organization from the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry to formally join the alliance.

The NCFTA was established in 2002 to enable the responsible sharing of information and subject matter expertise with partners from private sector industries, law enforcement, and academia. Its goal is to develop and share threat intelligence as part of the international effort to combat and defeat cybercrime. NCFTA’s initiatives have helped prevent over $2 billion in potential losses and launch thousands of criminal and civil investigations, which have led to over a thousand arrests.

“Cybercrime is a global threat that continues to see exponential growth, with the potential to impact the very fabric of our society,” said Matt LaVigna, President and CEO of the NCFTA.

“Binance is an industry leader with a proven track record in aiding international cybersecurity investigations. With their leadership, collaborative approach, and commitment to the war on cybercrime, they will enhance our ability to achieve the current mission of the NCFTA and assist in enabling a safe environment not only for the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, but for everyone," added Matt.

Binance has built one of the world’s most advanced teams to tackle blockchain and cryptocurrency fraud. Its Binance Investigations Group is actively assisting law enforcement agencies worldwide. To date, Binance has cooperated with hundreds of criminal investigations, which have led to high-profile arrests, including a cybercriminal group laundering $500M in ransomware proceeds.

“The constantly evolving blockchain and cryptocurrency industry relies on strong cooperation between the industry, law enforcement, and government agencies,” said Tigran Gambaryan, Vice President of Global Intelligence and Investigations at Binance. “Joining the NCFTA is an important step in our joint fight against cybercrime, securing the cryptocurrency ecosystem for the entire community. Binance aims to be the leading contributor in the fight against cybercrime, ransomware, and terrorism financing. We will continue our fight against cybercrime and increase our level of cooperation and transparency through our partnership with the NCFTA."

Binance Signs Agreement to Participate in World’s 1st Virtual Asset Ecosystem With Dubai World Trade Centre Authority

Memorandum of Understanding outlines vision to accelerate the set-up of a new industry hub for Global Virtual Assets

Binance, the world’s leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, and the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) have signed a cooperation agreement to help advance Dubai’s commitment to establishing a new international Virtual Asset ecosystem that will generate long-term economic growth through digital innovation.

Building off Dubai's reputation as a global technology leader, the recent announcement establishing DWTCA as the comprehensive zone and regulator for virtual assets comes as a much-awaited signal for the global industry. This first-of-its-kind hub for crypto assets and blockchain services, will fuel entrepreneurship, boost market confidence and accelerate investment.

Dubai’s Virtual Asset ecosystem aims to create a robust regulatory and legislative framework that will support innovation, ensure safe market adoption, and facilitate global acceptance.

As the leading blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem, Binance’s commitment to the landmark agreement demonstrates its confidence in Dubai’s future-shaping agenda to tap into a new wave of multi-sectoral growth across the global economy.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Founder and CEO of Binance, said: “I am grateful for the confidence the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority has placed in Binance. Together, we share a vision for helping Dubai embrace the new future economy that includes crypto and blockchain. Today, the adoption of crypto and blockchain technology remains in its infancy, but through our leadership position and expertise, combined with the long-term vision of Dubai, we plan to develop a regulatory framework appropriate to fit the fast-moving and progressive nature of virtual assets.”

Binance will also participate in this knowledge-sharing ecosystem with its experience in collaborating with global regulators to aid the development of progressive Virtual Asset regulations. The goal is to help crypto exchanges, or businesses that offer blockchain and DLT services, or a wide range of digital currencies and assets to become licensed in Dubai.

Dubai World Trade Centre Authority remarked: “The new Virtual Assets Hub in Dubai will connect service providers, technology enablers, and governments to co-create the next generation future economy ecosystem for the Virtual Assets industry. Our pioneering ‘test-adapt-scale’ model is designed to accelerate secure, equitable and sustainable access to new growth opportunities, aiding Dubai’s vision for a fully digital and inclusive global society.”

About Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA)

Established in 2015, the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority provides a unique and well-regulated ecosystem for businesses seeking local and international opportunities. Strategically positioned in Dubai’s Central Business District, the DWTCA Free Zone provides an ideal environment for startups, SMEs and multinational corporations to operate locally while reaching international markets. Most recently, DWTCA has additionally been established as the world’s first and only comprehensive zone and regulator for virtual assets. The DWTCA Free Zone expands from the iconic Dubai World Trade Centre to the adjoining One Central development, providing world-class commercial infrastructure and services for businesses across a multitude of industries.