Binance wants to deepen its presence in the Asia Pacific region.
S.B. Secker, the company’s regional head, told Nikkei Asia that it plans to acquire five additional licenses in Asia this year, bringing its global regulatory footprint to more than 20 jurisdictions.
The largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume currently has approvals in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand across the Asia Pacific region. South Korea is expected to join the list after the completion of the acquisition of local exchange Gopax.
Secker, who joined the company last September after previous roles at Crypto.com, Ant Group and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, declined to name specific markets but noted that some have been completed while others are in ongoing discussions with local authorities.
The licensing effort reflects a broader push to meet compliance standards in key markets and deepen product offerings to attract users. The platform has more than 300 million registered accounts worldwide.
According to CoinGecko, in 2025, Binance recorded more than $7.1 trillion in spot trading volume and accounted for about 40% of the activity among the top 10 centralized exchanges.
“We have strong growth from all over the world, but APAC is still leading the pack,” Secker said.
In 2025, the Consensus Report estimates that 535 million adults in the Asia-Pacific region will own or use digital assets.
The company pulled out of direct retail services in Singapore in 2021 after withdrawing its license application amid a tough regulatory stance. It still serves institutional clients there.
Secker described Singapore as a potentially attractive market, but said the retail segment remains small.
Addressing recent reports that Binance has transferred around 1.7 billion in funds linked to illegal entities, Secker said the allegations are unsubstantiated and reiterated that the company maintains customer identification and compliance procedures throughout its operations.
The compliance team has grown by 30% annually over the past two years and now includes approximately 1,500 professionals.
“We are confident that we will fight these allegations,” he said.
