When the market is bad, we build. Binance is doubling down on institutional expansion during a crypto market contraction, aiming to grow its verified active user base from approximately 310 million to 3 billion by 2030.
The exchange is pursuing the tenfold expansion through three channels: institutional partnerships, integration of tokenized assets, and infrastructure tooling that bridges traditional finance and crypto. Catherine Chen, Head of VIP and Institutional at Binance, framed the downturn as a strategic window. “Whenever the market is bad, it is always the best time for us to build. We are building and positioning ourselves to 10x our user base when people aren’t noticing—and then, hopefully, we are already there,” Chen said.
The crypto market has contracted sharply. Bitcoin has not reclaimed the psychological $100,000 level since mid-November 2025. The total crypto market capitalization stands at $2.7 trillion, a 40% decline from the all-time-high of $4.38 trillion before the October Flash Crash. Coinbase, a rival exchange, has cut 14% of its workforce, laying off nearly 700 staffers, citing negative market conditions and AI challenges.
Binance’s institutional push began in September 2025 with the launch of its Crypto-as-a-Service platform. The platform has attracted over 15 major financial institutions in its first eight months. Chen noted that traditional finance firms increasingly prefer to partner with crypto infrastructure rather than build it in-house. “Financial institutions are increasingly merging with crypto exchanges and blockchain infrastructure providers. They don’t want to be building all that infrastructure themselves,” Chen said.
The infrastructure gap is substantial. Traditional finance spends approximately $2 billion annually on Order Management Systems (OMS), while crypto infrastructure spending totals only $185 million per year. Binance is targeting that $2 billion gap by offering OMS toolkits developed with partners Coin Metrics, Talos, and 3Commas. These tools provide institutional-grade flow analytics designed to serve Wall Street workflows.
Real-world asset tokenization represents the second pillar. Binance has integrated tokenized money market funds from asset managers BlackRock and Franklin Templeton into its triparty ecosystem. Chen emphasized that tokenization is not a price mechanism but an accessibility upgrade. “People have finally figured out that you don’t magically change the fundamental characteristics or price of an asset by tokenizing it. It is fundamentally an improved form to ensure better accessibility,” Chen said. The tokenized asset market is expected to mature rapidly over the next 12 to 18 months.
Chen acknowledged near-term headwinds. “It is true, the market is going through a hard time. There is still some regulatory development, we are seeing some of our competitors either struggling or perhaps shifting their focus,” Chen said. She added that tokenization will extend across asset classes. “Whether it is equities, treasury, or debt, this is the way forward,” Chen said.
Binance’s daily trading volume averages $7 billion per Coingecko. The exchange’s growth strategy reflects a broader industry pivot: institutional adoption and infrastructure maturity are replacing retail speculation as the primary growth driver during extended downturns.
