Despite the declining cryptocurrency market, Binance is on track to profit up to $1 billion this year. Binance Coin (BNB) is seeing heartening gains as well.
It goes without saying that 2018 has been a rough year for the cryptocurrency market thus far. Its most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC) has lost around 70 percent of its value since January, while the total market cap currently stands at $278 billion – down more than 66% from its 2018 high of $828.5 billion.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said that the cryptocurrency exchange is on track to realize a net profit of as much as $1 billion by year’s end.
Big Money for Binance
Zhao pointed out that Binance has already made about $300 million in the first two quarters of 2018 according to its owner. Things continue to look optimistic for the second half of 2018, with net profit for the year predicted to be between $500 million and $1 billion in total.
Binance is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, continually jockeying with OKEx for the top spot.
Such massive profits are exemplary of the fact that cryptocurrency exchanges are thriving, despite the unfriendly market conditions. Add to that the fact that Binance has only been in operation for about a year, having raised $15 million through its initial coin offering (ICO) in July 2017.
A Good Year Indeed
Binance has definitely been busy of late. In March of this year, the company relocated to Malta, receiving a warm welcome from Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Its international expansion doesn’t stop there, however, as they recently announced its plans to launch a crypto-fiat exchange in Uganda.
In addition, Binance announced last month that it is launching a $1 billion fund for startups in the field of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies. It is also actively incentivizing and helping the community. A clear example is its recent investment in a blockchain eSports company based in Malta.
The road hasn’t been without its underwater stones, however. Just a few days ago, Binance temporarily halted trading due to irregular trading activity that erroneously allowed 1 Syscoin to be traded for 96 bitcoins. The exchange was more than quick on its feet, however, turning things around and introducing SAFU — the Secure Asset Fund for Users – whereby it will store 10 percent of all trading fees in order to cover losses in unexpected and extreme situations.
BNB’s Impressive Performance
Binance’s in-house cryptocurrency, BNB, has also seen great success. In what came as a surprise to many, BNB is one of the few cryptocurrencies that is actually growing substantially against the relative value of Bitcoin.
It is worth noting that BNB is currently sitting comfortably as one of the top 20 largest cryptocurrencies, occupying the 17th position. At the time of writing, BNB is trading at $14.14, marking an almost 5 percent increase over the last 24 hours.
Do you think Binance will continue its profitable run? What about BNB? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, CoinMarketCap