Binance maintained hockey-like growth since 2021 despite the crypto market downturn, according to on-chain data provider Cryptoquant. Sharing its findings on Tuesday, Jan 10, the firm noted that the exchange’s annual revenue topped around $12 billion in 2022, growing ten times over the past two years.
Binance’s revenue growth comes amid a daunting crypto winter that has sent crypto prices to record lows. Since Bitcoin topped $68,000 in November 2021, the global crypto market capitalization has folded by over half, putting various crypto exchanges under immense pressure to reduce spending through job cuts.
And although Binance continued to maintain that it was business as usual, the exchange’s trading volumes also started to fall towards the end of 2022, tapping a two-month low of $9.39 billion on Dec 23 and lowering its estimated quarterly revenue.
According to a December report by Glassnode, Binance experienced an outflow of 90,000 Bitcoin in a week. On Jan 9, Forbes reported that the exchange saw $12 billion worth of crypto assets withdrawn in the past two months, citing a report availed to it by a reliable source.
Binance Outdoes Crypto Winter
Binance has had a robust company culture which explains its growth against the odds. Aside from becoming the first exchange to provide proof-of-reserves following the FTX debacle, Binance focused on building new products and trading functionalities to attract more users.
The exchange has also ramped up efforts to become regularly compliant across various jurisdictions. As of Dec 31, 2022, Binance had secured registrations and Licences in 14 jurisdictions globally. It also reinforced its commitment to fight against bad actors in the space, increasing its security and compliance headcount by over 500%.
In January last year, the exchange became the first crypto exchange to join the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA). Earlier this month, it joined the Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS) as it seeks to strengthen its sanctions compliance procedures.
Binance has also received positive rankings by leading crypto analytics firms, further strengthening its public image. Last month, Cryptoquant verified the exchange’s proof of reserves, concluding that the structure of its holdings was robust, with no signs of dangerous “FTX-like” behaviour.
Further, Norway-based, digital asset-native research firm Arcane research noted, “in terms of trading activity, Binance is the crypto market,” in its year-in-review report, attributing the exchange’s strong growth to user-friendly policies such as lifting trading fees for BTC spot pairs and sound employment policies.
In his end-of-2022 report, Changpeng Zhao “CZ” insisted that the exchange would continue building, putting users first, and “leading by our own example”. According to him, “the next bull market will come from innovation in the ways these products are used to create unique utility.”
