With $1 Billion In Cash, Binance Goes Shopping for Banks

The crypto winter of 2022 has been brutal for some of the popular crypto firms in the industry. However, for giants like Binance and FTX with cash in hand, it has been an excellent time to add more companies to their bag.

Crypto exchange Binance said it is willing to spend $1 billion this year on some key acquisitions in the market. As per the latest developments, Binance is now looking to buy banks to bridge the gap been traditional finance and the crypto industry. Speaking at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said:

“There are people who hold certain types of local licenses, traditional banking, payment-service providers, even banks. We’re looking at those things. We want to be the bridge between crypto and the traditional, financial world.”

CZ’s comments clearly reflect that the traditional finance and crypto markets are getting interlinked by the day. As a result, it would be great if the two facets operate in synergy instead of pushing the rivalry. Some of the biggest financial institutions like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs are already pushing further into the crypto market.

Despite the crypto winter this year, BlackRock decided to join hands with Coinbase in August 2022, to price its institutional clients, exposure to digital assets.

Binance Expanding Its Footprint

Binance Chief Changpeng Zhao said that they are open to making partial as well as full acquisitions. He sees this as an opportunity for Binance to capitalize on the expected increase in the bank’s stock price after signing a deal with Binance. He further added:

“What we have found is when banks work with us, we drive so many users to them, so the bank’s valuation goes up exponentially, like why don’t we just invest in them as well, so that we capture some of the equity upside”.

Zhao is also an investor in Twitter offering $500 million to Elon Musk in his recent Twitter deal. He also expressed the wish to join the Twitter board if Elon Musk says so. Besides, Binance is also willing to provide blockchain-based solutions to tackle the bots issue on Twitter.