Ripple's CEO predicted Binance would re-enter the U.S., as the cryptocurrency exchange's co-CEO said it would adopt a "wait-and-see" approach. Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, exited the U.S. in 2023 as part of a deal in which then CEO, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to criminal charges over the failure to prevent money laundering on the exchange, as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice. Zhao was pardoned by U.S President Donald Trump in October. A Bloomberg report in December said the company was mulling re-entering the U.S. market.
In an interview with CNBC in Davos on Tuesday, Binance's co-CEO, Richard Teng, said it was taking a "wait and see" approach to re-entering the U.S., which he called "a very important marketplace." Shortly afterwards, in a separate interview with CNBC, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of blockchain company Ripple, predicted it would happen. "It's a very large market, and ... not that many years ago, they were a material player," he said of Binance. "I think they'll come back because they're a capitalistic, innovative company that wants to solve ... larger markets and continue to grow," Garlinghouse added. Garlinghouse said Binance's re-entry would increase competition and bring more people into the market. "I think it will actually have the positive impact of bringing more people into the market, in part because it'll reduce pricing," Garlinghouse said. "Today their [Binance] pricing is lower on a global basis than what we see here in the U.S."
The U.S. passed the GENIUS Act last year to regulate stablecoins and is debating approving the Clarity Act, a framework for regulating cryptocurrencies. The Clarity Act faced opposition from some crypto industry participants. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted last week on X that his company "can't support the bill as written." However, Teng and Garlinghouse backed it. "I would say that any regulation will be better than no regulation," Teng, who is a former regulator, said during his CNBC interview. "Once you have clarity, you can then start working around those rules, right? And in the first instance, most regulations will not be perfect, but it is then going through a round of enhancements," Teng said. Garlinghouse said he was "surprised" at Armstrong's "vehemence" in coming out against the Clarity Act. "I mean, basically the rest of the industry, including exchanges that compete with Coinbase, were still supporting it," Garlinghouse said. "My understanding is everyone's kind of still at the table. I'm hopeful we find the how to break that impasse ... If we want the industry to continue to grow ... we need things like the Genius Act, we need things like the Clarity Act."