The feature has been available to Binance customers outside the US since February 2021 when it was first launched. Back then, Binance founder and CEO said payments is one of the most obvious use cases for crypto.
Binance Pay allows users to send, request, and receive nearly 150 different crypto currencies from other users, enabling instant, zero-cost crypto transfers, as the company advertises. Binance recently eliminated trading fees for both bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) to attract more users during a time when crypto trading volumes are at two-year lows.
As representatives see it, Binance Pay can eliminate the complexities of transferring crypto to contacts as users no longer need to enter a complex deposit or withdrawal address, pay gas fees, or wait an unspecified amount of time for transactions to successfully settle. Binance users will be able to use the feature immediately while the exchange is also working on a web version.
At the end of November 2022 the company revealed it planned to commit USD 1 billion for a cryptocurrency recovery fund. The fund proposed by Binance would be used to establish an industry recovery initiative (IRI) to invest in companies from the digital assets sector, particularly those that will end up facing a liquidity crisis. Depending on the need, Binance also expressed its readiness to increase this commitment to USD 2 billion. Around 150 companies have already applied for support from the fund, Binance said, and crypto-native investment firms such as Jump Crypto, Polygon Ventures, and Animoca Brands have sent USD 50 million in commitments.
A few days after this announcement, Binance entered the Japanese market by acquiring Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) for an undisclosed sum. SEBC is a JFSA-registered crypto exchange that also offers consultation services in addition to its brokerage service. The exchange was based in Tokyo, and it supported 11 trading pairs. By acquiring 100% of SEBC, Binance has entered the Japanese market as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity. According to Binance, the company aims to support a responsible global environment for cryptocurrencies by providing Japanese-regulated services through SEBC.
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