Norman Reed, our Interim CEO, reflects on the past year and shares his outlook for 2025.
It has been a historic year for crypto. With the election behind us and a new administration taking shape, we stand at the cusp of a new year—and with it, important changes that signal an inflection point for Binance.US and our industry. We look forward to the future with both confidence and excitement.
Much has been said about how crypto moves in cycles, but that’s an oversimplification. Every industry is bound to experience ups and downs, yet the future of digital assets in America only grows brighter. The long-term trajectory for crypto is certainly one of continued growth and expansion. We expect digital assets to become an important part of the “mainstream” financial ecosystem in the U.S. and around the world. The long view is to think of crypto as an ascending staircase where each cycle builds upon the last.
Staging our comeback
Like any good comeback story, we’ve faced some challenges along the way. In June 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed civil claims against Binance.US, following similar actions taken against our industry peers. Shortly after, we were forced to pivot to crypto-only and pause our fiat on- and off-ramps, significantly hindering our ability to offer services and products to customers. We now know that a key part of this regulatory assault was a concerted initiative by the outgoing administration to unjustly deny cryptocurrency and fintech businesses access to banking services.
I previously shared in a Fortune op-ed that the SEC, where I spent an earlier part of my career working, was founded “on principles of transparency, fairness, full disclosure, and stable regulation, taking into account the economic impact of its regulations and the well-being of investors.”
Ultimately, I strongly believe that the current SEC administration’s actions have not only failed to uphold the agency’s founding principles, but also caused significant harm to American consumers and the crypto industry, including Binance.US. Importantly, by choosing the status quo over progress and innovation, the SEC has prevented the U.S. financial system from reaching its full potential while denying a majority of Americans access to secure, transparent, and swift transactions powered by blockchain technology.
But at the end of the day, I take comfort in knowing these facts: We’ve survived the SEC's overreach. While our case with the SEC is still ongoing, we firmly believe that the facts will prevail. Over the past 17 months and counting, we have diligently participated in the discovery process, providing countless hours of depositions and complying with hundreds of document requests. Tellingly, the SEC has not presented any evidence of wrongdoing to date despite maintaining a careful watch over the company.
In the meantime, we welcome a clear and practical regulatory framework for digital assets in the U.S. I am hopeful that the nomination of Paul Atkins as the next Chairman of the SEC will bring us one step closer to this reality. To be clear, the fight isn’t over. Now that we’ve survived, our goal is to help crypto thrive and empower all Americans with freedom of choice. We look forward to writing this next chapter together with our community.
Looking ahead to 2025
With 2025 approaching, our number one priority remains providing our community with the best experience and resources in crypto. To that end, we are focused on restoring USD services, so that users easily move money into and out of Binance.US. It is, without a doubt, the top-requested and most anticipated request from our customers.
Many of you have been asking when USD will return. While I can’t provide a definitive launch date yet, let me be clear: It is not a matter of if, but when. As I’m writing this, we are closer than ever to restoring USD services and our plan is to achieve this important milestone in early 2025.
Alongside the return of USD, we are committed to cementing our reputation as the best crypto platform for low fees and high rewards. We continue to offer unbeatable features such as 0% fee Bitcoin trading on BTC/USDC—something we pioneered and no other major U.S. crypto platform offers—and unparalleled choice, with support for 160 cryptocurrencies and counting, as well as staking for over 20 different assets—more than any other major on-chain staking platform in the U.S.
Expect new releases in the coming months as we continue to expand our product suite with features designed to help you do more with your crypto. We're leveraging new and impactful partnerships to improve our exchange infrastructure with expanded custody offerings, new wallet solutions, and other benefits.
Equally important is our commitment to compliance and customer protection. As a licensed and U.S.-regulated crypto platform, we continue to invest heavily in maintaining a best-in-class compliance program to ensure we meet the highest standards for security, integrity, and transparency.
With momentum building, it’s not just that the tides are turning—I strongly believe that 2025 will be a breakout year for Binance.US, and our teams are hard at work building a comeback story for the ages. I welcome everyone to join us in taking Binance.US to the next level, whether you’re a current customer, new to our platform, or on the sidelines eagerly waiting for USD services to resume.
Happy holidays,
Norman Reed
P.S. If you want to be the first to know when USD services are restored, I recommend following Binance.US on X—it’s where our team shares important announcements and updates.