Binance, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, is about to shed its crypto-only status by offering fiat pairs, according to CEO Zhao Changpeng.
The company would soon be offering Euro pairs on some of its cryptocurrencies because it opened an office in Malta and thus allowing it to gain easy access to liquidity. Curiously enough, OKEx hasn’t made such an announcement yet, despite the fact that it also opened up operations in the country.
Zhao also said that the exchange will also start allowing trading in other fiat currencies, but didn’t provide any further details. We also don’t know exactly when Euro trading will start.
Binance’s introduction to fiat trading will essentially subject the company to a slew of regulations that could threaten its user base, which prefers to trade anonymously. Having been a crypto-to-crypto exchange throughout its history, adding fiat into the mix is a considerably bold move.
Despite the waning value of cryptocurrencies since the end of last year, Binance has been doing pretty well for itself, reporting profits of $150 million in Q1 2018 and daily trading volumes exceeding $1.5 billion per day.
It’s not clear, however, how the crypto giant will be able to maintain fiat pairing and continue with its plans of operating a decentralized exchange, which would not be able to remain 100-percent compliant to all of the regulations surrounding the banking sector.
This might just be a case of “let’s see how the pieces fit together” as Binance pushes onward with its expansion. Perhaps it will include a fiat marketplace in the decentralized realm and only operate with its own liquidity in its traditional platform.
It can do either that or offer crypto-only pairings in the decentralized exchange.
Nonetheless, although Binance has many plans, it wouldn’t necessarily be stretching itself too thin as it has enough capital to ensure that all of these transitions go smoothly. Whether or not its users would welcome fiat pairings from a traditionally crypto-only exchange is another matter entirely.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
