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In the first episode of Inside Binance, DG from our core projects team explains why he joined Binance and how the company's results-driven culture shapes the way teams build.
DG sees direct actions as a natural extension of Binance's mission to increase the freedom of money by expanding access to financial products.
Cryptocurrencies continue to be the foundation of Binance's long-term vision: an integrated financial super app designed to serve billions of users in trading, payments, on-chain services, rewards, community, and AI.
Binance started as a cryptocurrency broker. Nine years later, we’re building a broader vision: a financial super app where users can access and manage more aspects of their financial lives through a connected experience.
This evolution is driven by people across Binance who turn an ambitious mission into products that work at global scale. Inside Binance is a new series that spotlights some of these builders, exploring what motivates them, how they make decisions, and where they believe digital finance is heading.
In our first episode, host Kevin Susanto speaks with DG, a member of Binance’s core projects team, who helped drive key initiatives behind our expansion into traditional financial markets. The conversation covers DG’s journey from Binance user to employee, the thinking behind direct equities, the importance of emerging markets, and what will be needed to build for the next three billion users.
Watch the full video (enable the automatic Portuguese subtitle to watch)
This conversation has been edited for concision and clarity.
From Binance user to Binance builder
DG’s decision to join Binance unfolded over years. Long before becoming an employee, he was already using Binance to buy his first cryptocurrencies and go through multiple market cycles. The platform had already earned his trust through the product experience, accessibility, and a track record of protecting users.
The deciding factor was the culture he found during the interview process. DG identified with Binance’s “hardcore” value: willingness to take responsibility, focus on results, and dedication to the work needed to deliver value to users.
“When the opportunity came up, it wasn’t a difficult decision,” says DG. “It felt like closing a loop that started when I first became a Binance user.”
As part of the core projects team, DG works on high-priority initiatives that require coordination across multiple areas. When the opportunity to contribute to Binance’s expansion into traditional financial markets came up, he volunteered.
“It was a steep learning curve, genuinely energizing, and I didn’t look back,” he says.
Expanding the mission to traditional markets
DG sees Binance’s entry into traditional assets as a direct extension of our mission to increase money freedom. That’s why he’s proud of the work to bring access to traditional equities to more than 300 million Binance users worldwide.
For eligible users in permitted jurisdictions, direct equities on Binance provide access to more than 7,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, settled in stablecoins, and available on a 24/5 schedule. Fractional investing starts from $5, reducing the financial barrier for users who want to start with a smaller amount.
“The mission is to increase money freedom,” says DG. “For us, that means giving users access to more financial products on conditions that work for them.”
This principle influences product decisions. The team decided to go beyond that and incorporate extended-hours and overnight access to create a 24/5 experience for users across different time zones.
“We could have launched U.S. stock trading only during regular trading hours. That would have been faster and simpler,” says DG. “Instead, we invested more to make extended-hours and overnight trading possible, because that’s what really serves the mission.”
Building where access matters most
In many developed markets, opening an account with a brokerage and buying U.S. stocks has become relatively straightforward. Elsewhere, the same process may involve limited broker availability, foreign currency restrictions, high fees, minimum deposits, and long settlement timelines.
Binance’s initial direct equities data showed how much demand had been obscured by these barriers. More than 80% of direct equities trading volume in the first week came from users in emerging markets. The product attracted users who wanted access to U.S. markets without maintaining a separate relationship with a broker or moving funds out of the crypto ecosystem.
For DG, these users are central to the product’s purpose. They’re mobile-first, often comfortable with stablecoins, and used to digital financial services that are flexible and available beyond conventional banking hours. They also expect low minimum entry amounts and the ability to move between asset classes without having to rebuild their financial setup across multiple platforms.
“When I think about the next billion users, I think about people in emerging markets,” says DG. “Geographic and financial access are still real problems, and that’s where better infrastructure can make the biggest difference.”
Trust is part of the product
Access only matters when it’s supported by trust and strong user protections. For DG, that was already part of Binance’s appeal even before he joined the company.
He cites the Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, which Binance set up in 2018 by allocating part of trading fees to an emergency safety net. When Binance suffered a security breach in May 2019, the company used the fund to fully cover the loss, ensuring that not a single cent of users’ funds was lost in the incident.
“That decision—to absorb a real loss instead of passing it on to users—is invisible until the moment you truly need it,” says DG. “That convinced me that Binance was building for the long term.”
The same focus on trust influences how new products are structured. For DG, building financial products at global scale requires balancing speed, security, user experience, and regulatory compliance.
“Maybe we’re not the fastest to launch a product, but when we do launch, we want to build the right product,” says DG.
Building the super app in the right order
The expansion of crypto into direct equities may seem broad to someone looking in from the outside, but DG sees a clear sequence behind it. Each layer depends on capabilities and trust established by the previous one.
Crypto trading and infrastructure created the foundation. Direct equities then expanded the range of assets that eligible users could access from the same account, bringing traditional and digital markets together in a more integrated experience.
“There’s real logic in the order,” says DG. “Each step is a prerequisite for the next.”
This sequence points to Binance’s long-term ambition to serve three billion users. Cryptocurrencies will continue to be our foundation, but reaching this scale will require an experience that brings more than what people need from finance: trading, payments, rewards, community, on-chain services, and AI tools that help users understand markets and act with more confidence.
DG describes the mission as an “infinite game.” There will always be another barrier to remove, another product to improve, and another group of users whose needs aren’t being met by the existing financial system.
“The mission doesn’t really end,” he says. “We want to keep building better products for users. In the future we’re working toward, Binance is a financial super app that helps people invest, make payments, and use their money with more freedom.”
Final thoughts
DG joined Binance as someone who had already experienced the platform as a user and wanted to help build the next stage of its evolution. Today, his work is helping connect native crypto infrastructure to traditional markets and create new pathways for financial participation.
Products will continue to evolve, guided by user feedback, regulatory requirements, and the trust standards needed to serve people worldwide. The underlying direction is to build on the strength of cryptocurrencies, expand access to useful financial products, and make sure the experience works for users wherever they are.
Additional reading
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