Binance Has Spent Years Trying to Quench Regulatory Fires, Now Governments Are Asking the Firm for Help

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has spent years trying to quench regulatory fires globally, but governments are now asking the firm for help with cryptocurrencies.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is now helping governments create their own national digital asset reserves and regulations, the company’s CEO Richard Teng said on Monday.

Several countries have reached out to Binance for assistance, as they look to emulate the US in establishing a bitcoin treasury and a broader digital asset stockpile.

The crypto giant has spent years trying to quench regulatory fires globally, but government officials are now asking the firm for assistance with cryptocurrencies.

That’s according to CEO Richard Teng, who told the Financial Times that several countries have sought advice on establishing national crypto reserves and regulations — a major narrative flip for a company accused in many jurisdictions of regulatory misdeeds.

Teng said crypto-friendly policies under US President Donald Trump have spurred other nations to follow suit.

Under Trump, legal hostility to crypto seems to have given way to a less strict regulatory regime. The Securities and Exchange Commission has ended several high-profile investigations and enforcement actions against crypto businesses, including Coinbase and Uniswap.

In March, Trump signed an executive order to create a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and a US digital asset stockpile to hold cryptocurrencies confiscated by US law enforcement. But on Monday, Bo Hines, executive director of Trump’s digital assets advisory council, said the government was considering funding bitcoin purchases using proceeds from tariffs.

The US is “way ahead” of other countries in matters relating to crypto regulations and establishing national digital asset stockpiles, Teng said.

Teng’s revelations cast Binance, the regulatory laggard, in a new light — one that puts the company in the rarefied halls of government policy influence. It comes amid reports of negotiations between Binance and US officials to lessen the government’s oversight of the crypto exchange.

Earlier this year, Binance pleaded guilty to violating money laundering regulations and was fined a record-breaking $4.3 billion. The company was also ordered to pay an additional $6.2 billion to settle a case with the Internal Revenue Service over unpaid taxes.

Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, was also imprisoned for four months.

But even as it attempts to climb the legitimacy ladder, Binance’s reputational scars might not fade so easily.

The company is under investigation in France for similar offences that saw it dock a hefty fine in the US. Its executives were also detained in Nigeria last year.

After a year of legal battles, Nigerian authorities are yet to let up on the crypto giant. In February, the government approached a federal judge to levy an $81 billion fine on Binance for unpaid taxes and economic distortion. Binance is also facing trials for money laundering and tax evasion in the West African nation.

But Teng says the company is in a better regulatory shape — one that government regulators “appreciate much more compared to the past,” he told the Financial Times.

The Binance CEO said the company has invested in improving compliance with regulatory provisions across the globe.