“I’m a long-term investor,” Binance CEO says

Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, said crypto fundamentals remain strong despite price volatility, pointing to accelerating user growth, deeper regulatory engagement and expanding product offerings as key drivers heading into 2026.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Jan.8 following the release of Binance’s 2025 annual report, Teng said short-term price movements, including Bitcoin’s pullback to around US$89,000, should not be the primary lens through which investors assess the sector.

“I do think that we should look beyond just the price movement,” Teng said. “Price movement (is) very difficult to predict on a day-to-day, month-to-month basis, but we should look at the strong fundamentals and underlying.”

Teng described himself as a long-term investor and said Binance’s own operating metrics reinforce his confidence in the asset class.

“On the Binance front, we have continued to grow from strength to strength,” he said. “On the user front, we have surpassed 300 million users just last month. Put into perspective, one out of 20 adults in the world is a user on our platform investing in digital assets. So that’s massive.”

He also highlighted Binance’s regulatory progress, describing the company as the first global crypto exchange to secure a global license meeting what he called “gold standards on governance, transparency, risk management, (and) compliance.”

“With these elements, we continue to push ahead with crypto adoption,” Teng said.

On competition, Teng said the lines between traditional finance and digital assets are increasingly blurred.

“We are seeing a very strong convergence between Web2 space and Web3 space,” he said, noting competition from platforms such as Robinhood, banks entering crypto trading, and decentralized finance providers. He argued Binance’s scale, liquidity and pricing remain key advantages. “We have the deepest offering of investors, global users, the narrowest bid-ask spread… and the deepest liquidity pool.”

Teng also announced new product development, including what he described as the first regulated perpetual contracts settled in a U.S. dollar stablecoin, initially linked to gold and silver. “We are pushing ahead to introduce a lot more product, different product classes for users globally to trade on a 24/7 basis,” he said.

Asked about Binance’s ability to operate in the United States, Teng said the company currently has no U.S. presence and declined to speculate on timing or plans.

“At this point in time, we are not in the U.S. It’s premature to speculate,” he said. “We are focusing on global deployment. We are holding a very exciting watching brief, watching the developments coming in the U.S., not only in terms of (regulation), but hopefully in terms of market structure.”

Teng added that any potential U.S. expansion would depend on regulatory clarity and engagement with local stakeholders. “At this point in time, it’s too premature,” he said.

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