Ripple CEO predicts Binance will reenter U.S. It says ‘wait and see’
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng during the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, March 26, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ripple CEO predicted Binance will re-enter the US as the cryptocurrency exchange’s co-CEO said he would take a “wait and see” approach.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, exited the United States in 2023 as part of a deal in which then-CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to failure to prevent money laundering at the exchange as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice.
Zhao was pardoned by President Donald Trump in October. A Bloomberg report published in December stated that the company was considering re-entering the US market.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (center) leaves federal court in Seattle on April 30, 2024.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said in an interview with CNBC in Davos on Tuesday: It was taking a “wait and see” approach when re-entering the US, which it described as “a very important market”.
Shortly after, in a separate interview with CNBC, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of blockchain company Ripple, predicted this would happen.
“It’s a huge market and… they weren’t a major player that many years ago,” he said of Binance.
“I think they’ll come back because they’re a capitalist, innovative company that wants to solve bigger markets and continue to grow,” Garlinghouse said.
Garlinghouse said Binance’s re-entry will increase competition and bring more people to the market.
“I think this will have a positive impact on bringing more people into the market, in part because it will lower pricing,” Garlinghouse said. “Today their [Binance] “On a global basis, prices are lower than what we see in the U.S.”
Crypto industry clashed over new regulation
The US passed the Genius Act last year to regulate stablecoins and is discussing approving the Openness Act, a framework for regulating cryptocurrencies.
The Openness Act has faced opposition from some crypto industry participants. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong published on X last week He said his company “cannot support the bill in writing.”
However, Teng and Garlinghouse supported it.
“I would say any regulation would be better than no regulation,” Teng, a former regulator, said during the CNBC interview.
“Once that’s clear, you can start working around those rules, right?” Teng said. “And most of the rules will not be perfect at first, but then they will undergo some improvements.”
Garlinghouse said he was “surprised” by Armstrong’s “vehemence” in opposing the Openness Act.
“Basically, the rest of the industry, including exchanges competing with Coinbase, was still supporting it,” Garlinghouse said.
“From what I understand, everyone is still at the table. I hope we can figure out how we can resolve this impasse… If we want the industry to continue to grow… We need things like the Genius Act, we need things like the Openness Act.”
