Ripple CEO predicts Binance will re-enter US market, ‘wait and see’

Ripple’s CEO predicted Binance will re-enter the US as the crypto exchange’s co-CEOs said they would take a “wait-and-see” approach.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, pulled out of the United States in 2023 as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice in which then-CEO Changpeng Chao admitted to criminal charges for failing to prevent money laundering on the exchange.

Mr. Zhao was pardoned by President Donald Trump in October. In December, Bloomberg reported that the company was considering re-entering the U.S. market.

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said in an interview with CNBC in Davos on Tuesday that the company is taking a “wait-and-see” approach to re-entering the U.S., a “very important market.”

Shortly after, in a separate interview with CNBC, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of blockchain company Ripple, predicted that it would happen.

“This is a very large market and…not that long ago they were an important player,” he said of Binance.

“I think they’ll come back because they’re…capitalist, innovative companies that want to solve a bigger market and continue to grow,” Garlinghouse added.

Garlinghouse said Binance’s re-entry will increase competition and bring more people into the market.

“I think it’s actually going to have a positive effect of bringing more people into the market, partly because it lowers prices,” Garlinghouse said. “Today, their (Binance) pricing is lower globally than what we see here in the United States.”

Last year, the United States passed the Genius Act, which regulates stablecoins, and is currently discussing approval of the Clarity Act, a framework for regulating virtual currencies.

The Clarity Act faced opposition from some crypto industry participants. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted on X last week that his company “cannot support the bill as written.”

But Teng and Garlinghouse supported it.

“I would say any regulation is better than no regulation,” Teng, a former regulator, said in an interview with CNBC.

“Once we have clarity, we can start working according to those rules, right?” Ten said. “And at first, most regulations are not perfect, but then there are a series of tightenings.”

Garlinghouse said he was “surprised” by Armstrong’s vocal opposition to the Clarity Act.

“So basically the rest of the industry, including exchanges that compete with Coinbase, were still supporting Coinbase,” Garlinghouse said.

“My understanding is that everyone is still on the fence. I hope we can find a way to break this impasse… If we want the industry to continue to grow… we need something like the Genius Act, we need something like the Clarity Act.”