CoinDesk
Binance is using the current crypto downturn to double down on institutional infrastructure, with the exchange setting a public target to expand its verified active user base from roughly 310 million to 3 billion by 2030. Head of VIP and Institutional Catherine Chen told CoinDesk the exchange is going after a more than $2 billion annual spending gap between traditional finance OMS budgets and crypto infrastructure, where institutional spend sits around $185 million a year, by launching a new OMS toolkit in partnership with Coin Metrics, Talos and 3Commas.
Binance is also pushing deeper into Wall Street plumbing. The exchange has begun accepting tokenized money market funds from BlackRock and Franklin Templeton as eligible collateral inside a new triparty banking framework, letting institutional clients pledge yield-bearing tokenized shares to back trading positions without moving custody off their existing bank partners. More than 15 major financial institutions have signed on to Binance's Crypto-as-a-Service platform since its September launch, Chen said, framing the build cycle as countercyclical: "Whenever the market is bad, it is always the best time for us to build."
Why it matters
The push lands while rivals are contracting. Coinbase cut roughly 14% of its workforce this year, citing negative market conditions and AI pressure, and broader crypto market cap has fallen nearly 40% from its $4.38 trillion October peak to around $2.7 trillion, with Bitcoin still trading below the $100,000 mark. Binance's bet is that the next leg of adoption runs through institutional plumbing — tokenized collateral, triparty custody, OMS-grade analytics — rather than retail-driven spot rallies. Tokenized money market funds from BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin Templeton's BENJI give institutions a regulated, yield-bearing asset to pledge without taking direct crypto custody.
Market impact
If the OMS toolkit and triparty collateral rails gain traction, the addressable flow into Binance's institutional book widens beyond its current ~$7 billion average daily volume, and the $185 million crypto infrastructure-spend figure becomes a more credible floor than a ceiling.
Frequently asked questions
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What is Binance's 2030 user growth target?
Binance Head of VIP and Institutional Catherine Chen told CoinDesk the exchange is targeting roughly 3 billion verified active users by 2030, up from about 310 million today. She emphasized the figure refers to KYC/KYB-verified active users, not registered accounts.
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How is Binance courting institutional clients?
Binance launched an OMS toolkit with Coin Metrics, Talos and 3Commas, accepts tokenized money market funds from BlackRock and Franklin Templeton inside a triparty banking framework, and onboarded more than 15 financial institutions to its Crypto-as-a-Service platform since its September launch.
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What is the TradFi versus crypto infrastructure spending gap?
Traditional finance firms spend north of $2 billion annually on advanced order management systems, Chen said, while crypto infrastructure spend sits at roughly $185 million per year — about a tenth of the TradFi figure. The OMS toolkit targets that gap directly.
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Why is the tokenized money market fund integration significant?
It lets institutional clients pledge yield-bearing tokenized shares — backed by funds like BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin Templeton's BENJI — as collateral for trading positions without taking direct crypto custody or moving capital off their existing banking partners.
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What is the 12-to-18 month RWA window Chen referenced?
Chen said real-world asset tokenization is on a 12-to-18 month maturation timeline. If TradFi balance sheets move onto tokenized collateral rails within that window, the ~$185 million crypto infrastructure-spend figure becomes a floor for institutional revenue; if RWA stalls, that line caps out.
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