July 14, 2017 — a date that forever changed the landscape of the crypto industry. On this day, Binance began its operations, and over nine years, the platform has evolved from a startup into a global financial giant. The founder himself, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), reminded everyone of this milestone on his X account, but it is far more interesting to look at the numbers and facts behind this anniversary.
The Name as the Project's DNA
The name "Binance" is not just a catchy word. It is an abbreviation of "Binary Finance," which from the very beginning emphasized the technological and purely cryptocurrency nature of the project. The platform was originally conceived as an ecosystem exclusively for digital assets, without support for fiat currencies.
The Path to Leadership in Six Months
In the summer of 2017, Binance conducted an ICO for the BNB token, raising $15 million. By January 2018, the exchange had become the largest in the world by daily trading volume. At the peak of its dominance, in the fall of 2022, Binance's share of the global spot crypto market reached 62%. It was an unprecedented rise.
The Founder's Journey: From Burgers to Billions
CZ's story is a classic "American" (and Canadian) success. As a teenager, he worked at McDonald's and night shifts at a gas station to help his family. Later, he developed order matching systems for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and futures trading software at Bloomberg Tradebook. In 2014, he made perhaps his boldest move: selling his apartment in Shanghai for $900,000 and investing it all in Bitcoin at an average price of around $600.
Flight from China and the Birth of a "Digital Nomad"
Just two months after the launch, in September 2017, China banned ICOs and crypto exchanges. Binance had to urgently evacuate its team and servers. Since then, the company long kept its headquarters location undisclosed, and CZ lived the life of a "digital nomad." Today, according to Forbes, the base of the private company is the UAE, where the founder resides.
SAFU: From Meme to Insurance Fund
CZ's phrase "Funds are safe" turned into the meme "Funds are SAFU." Binance turned the joke into reality by creating the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) reserve fund in July 2018. The fund is replenished with 10% of all trading fees. By January 2022, its volume had reached $1 billion. In 2026, the fund's assets were transferred from stablecoins to BTC. The fund has already proven its effectiveness: in May 2019, when hackers withdrew over 7,000 BTC worth more than $40 million from the exchange, user losses were fully covered by SAFU.
The Largest Fine in U.S. History
In 2023, Binance admitted to violating U.S. sanctions by conducting over 1.5 million illegal transactions and laundering approximately $898 million. The fine amounted to $4.3 billion — one of the largest for companies in U.S. history. CZ pleaded guilty to failing to establish an anti-money laundering system, paid a personal fine of $50 million, and served four months in prison. In October 2025, he received a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Control and Wealth
Despite stepping down as CEO, CZ still owns about 90% of Binance. Forbes estimates the company's market value at approximately $100 billion. In the Forbes 2026 ranking, CZ's wealth grew to $108 billion (18th place globally, ahead of Bill Gates). Zhao himself disagreed with the valuation, noting that cryptocurrencies have fallen by more than 50% since the beginning of 2026, and urged the ranking compilers to "apply common sense and basic logic."
A Scale Surpassing National Economies
Over 9 years, Binance has accumulated over 320 million users in 180 countries, with client assets on the platform exceeding $128 billion. The company's revenue for 2024 was $16.8 billion. The exchange estimates its total cumulative trading volume at $156.4 trillion — an amount exceeding the annual GDP of the entire global economy.
Evolution: From Crypto Exchange to Super App
In 2025, the platform added trading for over 7,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs, including tokenized bStocks securities. The volume of such assets under management exceeded $1 billion within the first month. The company is evolving towards a "one-stop shop" for all finances. The stated target audience is 3 billion people.
Cryptalist Commentary: Binance's nine-year history is essentially a condensed chronicle of the entire crypto industry: from the ICO boom and explosive growth to regulatory storms and institutionalization. The main takeaway for the market: Binance has ceased to be just an exchange. It is building a global financial ecosystem, and judging by the numbers, this process is on track despite all the storms.