Binance’s primary goal for 2020 was to bring crypto to the masses. In an effort to keep up the momentum that Binance has gained from the beginning of the year, the cryptocurrency exchange platform is now reportedly in talks for a new acquisition: CoinMarketCap.
Rumored $400 million acquisition
The platform is preparing to acquire CoinMarketCap (CMC) for US$400 million [AU$653 million] and is expected to be finalized this week, as reported by Forbes.
Although the news is not yet confirmed, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao “CZ” had previously hinted acquisitions in the pipeline that would have a “significant impact” in his Binance 2020 New Year Message.
CoinMarketCap draws 80% more traffic than Binance, according to web analytics software SimilarWeb, which could be a major reason for the takeover. While CMC had 207.2 million visitors in the last six months, Binance drew 113.8 million visitors in the same period. However, Binance is the most visited exchange.
Mixed reactions from crypto community
The news garnered mixed reactions from the crypto community. The potential acquisition posed questions about CMC’s neutrality, reducing users’ “trust” in the platform.
Eugene Ng, a former trader at Deutsche Bank and current head of sales at Matrixport, shared the same sentiments on Twitter.
Who would ever trust @CoinMarketCap after this, doesnt make sense. A stake from @binance might likely work better than an acquisition, just defeats the purpose of having a balanced and neutral index aggregator. https://t.co/TmqN7638OJ
— Eugene Ng
(@Eug_Ng) March 31, 2020
Others said that the acquisition of a listing site by an exchange brings with it several biases and that unbiased listing of new projects cannot be guaranteed.
I wonder how Binance is going to deal with the obvious conflict of interest. CoinMarketCap will no longer be impartial (even though they didn’t already have a good reputation). What CoinMarketCap kills at though their SEO. They drive traffic from a ton of non-crypto folks
— Larry Cermak (@lawmaster) March 31, 2020
CoinMarketCap’s April Fools’ joke, raises questions on acquisition
Amid the uncertainty surrounding the massive $400 million acquisition, CoinMarketCap was seen to have a “glitch” that showed a token called “Toilet Paper Token,” with a market cap of $85,583,000,000, priced at $1.64 – obviously an April Fools’ joke.
It showed no circulating supply and a strange price graph made to look like a butt. The description of the token on the CoinMarketCap website said, “A roll call for all true believers!”
The Twitter community was quick to respond to this. However, this led some users to speculate whether the entire acquisition rumors were part of the April Fools’ joke.
CoinMarketCap was recently sold to @cz_binance for over 400 million dollars.
This is the first thing he does: pic.twitter.com/XPKXk4xv5C
— Mr. Whale
(@cryptowhale) March 31, 2020
On the other hand, there were others who opined: “no sooner did Binance acquire CoinMarketCap than it got hacked.”
I was just looking @CoinMarketCap for the last time just to see something and this was the view of the “top coin”….I guess you can now see where is heading after the crooks of @binance bought it… @cz_binance mafia boss just screwed coinmarketcrap …hacked alreday?
pic.twitter.com/yWE6opTcmS
— Charlie (Just an Islander) (@charlieru) March 31, 2020
Binance announces Korean crypto exchange
Meanwhile, CZ’s Twitter was flooded with questions to confirm the rumors of the acquisition and Binance Korea.
My Twitter feed today:
CoinMarketCap
CMC
CoinMarketCap
CMC#BinanceLoan
CMC
CoinMarketCap
CMC
CMC#BinanceKorea
CoinMarketCap
CMC
CMC
CoinMarketCap
CMC
CMC
CoinMarketCap
CMC
CMC
CoinMarketCap
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC
CMC— CZ Binance
(@cz_binance) March 31, 2020
On March 31, spreading the crypto word in South Korea, Binance also announced the launch of a new exchange, Binance KR.
The exchange is set to launch this week and will support Binance KRW (BKRW), the stablecoin backed by South Korean won (KRW). Developed on the Binance Cloud, Binance KR will be its first use case.
#Binance to Launch Korean #Crypto Exchange on Binance Cloud
Binance is entering the South Korean market, through the imminent launch of Binance KR, the first global use case of our Binance Cloud solution unveiled last month.https://t.co/ifHkFHxjls
— Binance (@binance) March 31, 2020
During the past year, Binance acquired 9 firms in total, out of which, only Trust Wallet, DappReview, WazirX and derivatives platform JEX’s acquisition was announced.
Featured image courtesy of Flickr / Дмитрий Шустов
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