Luke: [00:00:00] You’re listening to a new episode of The Brave Technologist. We’re on site at Rare Evo in Las Vegas, and in this episode, you’ll meet Steve Gregory, who’s the CEO of Binance US, a leading US digital asset exchange. Prior to joining Binance US in spring of 2026, Steve was CEO at Currency.com, and has held compliance roles at CEX.io and Gemini.

In this episode, we discussed what it takes to bring a new product to users safely without slowing business down, how Binance US balances being compliance first with delivering a competitive user experience, and what separates Binance US from Coinbase and Kraken in the crowded US exchange market.

And now for this week’s episode of The Brave Technologist.

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Luke: Steve, welcome to The Brave Technologist. How you doing?

Navid: Good. Thanks for having me.

Luke: Yeah, yeah. Appreciate you making the time. Um, so we’re here at Rare Evo. You’re at a session about building customer-centric platforms. Um, what does that actually mean day to day at an exchange like Binance US?

Navid: I think to me it means having, like, a really tight feedback loop with our customers’ wants so that we can give them the products they want very quickly, we can innovate very quickly, and sort of stay on [00:01:00] top of the market and, uh, you know, deliver services that they’re actually gonna use.

Luke: Yeah. I mean, and walk us through kind of like how a new product gets evaluated internally.

Like, what does it take to kind of bring a feature to users safely without slowing everything down?

Navid: Yeah. I think the first thing we look at is, like, complying with the regulations. Yeah. I think, like, crypto’s a lot of gray area, so we figure out exactly can we offer the product, how we structure the product, how we do, like, a funds flow diagram, and then we evaluate it from a compliance perspective, from a legal perspective, and from, like, a, you know, development perspective.

And then if we can come to agreement with all those things, then we sort of really start to scope out the product and say, “How do we deliver this? What’s the applicable timeline? And do we need an extra license? Do we need a legal opinion? What else do we need to sort of deliver this?”

Luke: And, and who’s kind of typically in the room?

Is it, like, product people? Is it product and compliance? and just to kind of two-part that, you know, Binance… There’s Binance International, Binance US. Like, are you guys working together on kind of strategic, uh, roll-outs for things, or do you guys kind of handle it separately because the US is kind of a bit of a different animal?

Navid: Yeah. Great question. Um, so the US has [00:02:00] a separate governance structure, separate everything. It’s not a parent-sub relationship. It’s a, uh, sister entity.

Luke: Okay.

Navid: So we have a common beneficial owner, which is obviously CZ, the founder. Um, but essentially we have our own in-house dynamic, how we build our own products.

Uh-huh. And, you know, the products we offer here in the US have much different rules than outside the US. Um, you know, the binance.com is regulated in, uh, Abu Dhabi and, you know, obviously we’re not, you know, regulated in Abu Dhabi under the, you know, UAE regime. So, in the US we have a bunch of different rules and protections.

Luke: Yeah. I’d imagine the, the customers are different, too, right? Like, uh, the, the needs of the customers and kind of what they’re looking for. Is that something that you guys run into, or is it… H-how is it, evaluating that compared to everything else going on in crypto?

Navid: Yeah. I would say absolutely.

You know, in the US r- for now, we’re regulated to the spot market because we don’t have the applicable license to be able to offer leverage.

Luke: Yeah.

Navid: But outside the US, obviously leverage is a really huge, uh-

Luke: How do you guys balance this whole thing with being compliance first with still delivering best in class UX

‘Cause sometimes those can pull in opposite directions, right? Like-

Navid: Absolutely. Yeah. There’s [00:03:00] always, you know, some internal strife with that. Um, you know, I think we have to be compliant first. I mean, like, you look at other places that have gotten in trouble. You know, it’s always a bad strategy to really push, you know, further than the available date.

I think, like, you can also look at the guidance of the regulators, and then we sometimes we even reach out to the regulators, ask for, like, a no action letter. Yeah. Or we, you know, bring to them a product how we scoped it out and say, get their feedback. Because the worst thing you can do is launch something and then have it essentially violate the law.

Luke: Yeah. Yeah. For sure. you’ve described U- uh, Binance US as kind of America’s home for digital assets and, and then you’ve got, like, Coinbase and Kraken and others kind of fighting for that same title. What does it actually take to differentiate in the US market?

Navid: I think, always listening to your customers, a- and then you’re gonna understand what it’s gonna take to be differential. right now we’re seeing a lot of homogenized products. I think now we’ve seen, like, the expansion of prediction markets. I think we’re, you know, with stable coins we’ve seen an expansion there.

We’ve seen, you know, obviously derivatives have come to the US in a much greater capacity. So I think if we keep paying attention to, like, what our customers want, we’ll find that [00:04:00] differentiating product. You know, I think each cycle has a different product that’s really cool. Oh, totally. You know, like in, in 2020 it was DeFi summer, you know, before that it was perps, and then, you know, it was the, and then it was the meme coin craze kind of in like 2021, 2022.

So I think just always paying attention to what’s coming next, and then we’ll be able to build that product a- as, as long as we have the applicable licensing framework to be able to offer that legally.

Luke: What are the main differences that you’re seeing in the US market compared to others?

Navid: , I’m starting to see, I think, more utility in the US market. So, you know, crypto was dominated a lot by speculation early on, especially, like, during the ICO era and stuff like that. And now we’re seeing people start to use crypto in their daily life. [00:05:00] And I think that if you can be the platform that does that, perhaps some banking, perhaps some saving, perhaps some borrowing and lending, I think, um, you know, we can make it more of, like, an everything’s banking app that, you know, is built on crypto.

Luke: Are, are you guys seeing a, a big shift in, , in both adoption and just has it been helpful, like, from a clarity perspective with, , - the Genius Act and, and some of this regulation coming on then?

Navid: I think definitely. You know, I think the Genius Act really established the right framework for stable coins, and it made it so these stable coins, if they’re a one-on-one back reserve and followed a bunch of other rules, that, you know, you could have those on the platform.

I think that gave, a lot of benefit to the industry. And now, obviously, we’ve seen the stable coin market caps, like, explode over the past couple years. Oh,

Luke: yeah.

Navid: I think it’ll only continue to go. Um, you know, obviously, it’s great for the US, great to preserve dollar hegemony. I think, uh, w- we’re gonna see more of that trend continue.

Awesome.

Luke: No, that’s great. Um, so you stepped into the CEO of Binance US in March, um, coming from compliance and legal background, in an area where product and product growth is, like, very important, right? Like, how has that shaped your first few months, kind of, uh, uh, maybe not coming in [00:06:00] from the product, side of the game?

Navid: Yeah, good question. Um, , I think having a legal background really helps me because I can understand, like, why the rules are what they are and then base the products around that, you know? And I think, like, custody and control are obviously very, you know, determinative of, of how, uh, the state regulators are gonna see the product.

So I think you sort of come at it from that mindset first, um, and then build it out in a compliant way. And it, it’s really helped me. I’m not, you know, a developer. I’m not super great with, you know, building products. But conceptually, I can understand, like, here’s where the guardrails are, and then I sort of just get out of the way of the engineers and the product people.

Luke: Yeah, it makes sense though. I think, like, that’s the thing people tend to not have a really great appreciation for, is that, like, you know, in a typical startup environment, you know, 90-plus percent chance of failure there anyway, but then the crypto side of it, it’s just like there’s all this legal compliance in, in these…

Just even how you’re phrasing things, right? Like, and then, and then the UX is, like, so key. But, like, coming in from that perspective of the legal side first is just like, it’s gonna get you m- way more prepared to better navigate that, I would imagine.

Navid: [00:07:00] Yeah. A- a- and honestly, my philosophy is just sort of build the guardrails in a compliant manner, and then get out of the way and let all the smart people on the team-

you know, work their magic, right? There’s a lot of people that know the products on the crypto side a lot better than me. So I just, you know, create that initial framework and then let them do their thing.

Luke: Yeah. Well, a- and you’ve operated exchanges in the US and in international markets. Like, what’s the most misunderstood, uh, thing about American crypto users, and w- what do they actually want that the industry keeps getting wrong?

Navid: Good question. You know, I think American crypto users definitely want leverage, and that really hadn’t been accessible until very recently. You know, now we’re starting to see, you know, perps come onshore. People get the DCM/DCO license to offer, you know, uh, l- leverage trading. I think that will continue to grow because, I mean, obviously we’ve seen that outside the US- Oh, yeah

for quite a bit. And like, it’s a really fun product where you could actually go short or you can go long, you can go with leverage. Um, that’s sort of like what everybody was into, like the most popular contract in crypto. I think now we’re starting to see that appetite in the US, uh, be addressed. And, and I think that’ll only [00:08:00] continue.

Luke: Yeah. Do you think things like the CLARITY Act are gonna help a lot with opening even more doors?

Navid: Oh, un- undoubtedly. Yeah. Undoubtedly. I think that’s what gives sort of the industry, the clarity to, say, upon, but to- … you know, to, to allow everybody to really build on this. And bring that, you know, the regulated perp market in, here into the US- Yeah

which would be, you know, really, really good. I mean, with the offshore stuff, it still works and still fine. Obviously, it’s a trusted product, but you know, you do see a lot of hiccups that p- likely wouldn’t happen if these things were onshore now.

Luke: Yeah. Well, it seems like, like, s- consumer protection-wise too, it, it’s probably like a huge win, like bringing, you know, this, this, uh, the regulation to market and, and just like kind of re-onshoring a lot of that.

Navid: Absolutely. Yeah. And I think like, you know, we wanna make the US the most competitive home for all the global liquidity.

Luke: Yeah.

Navid: And I think like that’s obviously great for the US, that’s great for US industry. It’s great to be a builder here in the US. And if we have the best, like most built-out stable framework of laws, that could be really beneficial to the

Luke: industry.

Amazing, amazing. I… And so privacy is kind of a growing tension point in crypto. Like cryp- regulators want more transparency, users want more [00:09:00] privacy. Uh, tools like zero-knowledge proofs kind of sit in between. How does Binance US navigate that tension when evaluating which assets or features to support?

Navid: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That’s a great question. Uh, you know, I think in the US largely privacy is, is somewhat lesser concerned by regulators- Yeah … like unfortunately. Like you see in Europe, you know, they have very, very strict rules on data privacy.

Luke: Right.

Navid: Whereas here we don’t really have. Like only a few states have some sort of, you know, rules on this.

California being one. - I, I think with the privacy coins, obviously the Treasury has come out very strongly against that, and we really can’t do any of that kind of stuff- Yeah … here in the US. But I think, like, with user data privacy, I think there’s gonna be a lot more , protections coming that sort of catches the US up with Europe.

I think Europe’s a little too burdensome, but I think we do need some, work to be done there.

Luke: Well, and you guys are regulated differently, too, like, uh, as an exchange, right? ‘Cause you’re dealing kind of with where fiat currency kinda hits with crypto, right? So I’d imagine it’s, it’s kind of a tough thing to, you know…

Y- you can’t play the same game as, like, a DeFi, uh, uh, dapp team or, or whatever, right?

Navid: Yeah, no, absolutely. We [00:10:00] have to KYC every user- Yeah, yeah, exactly … to get them on the platform. And we have to do pretty thorough KYC. So it, it looks like we’re not actually doing that much and, you know, it’s sort of like an ID picture, you know, a couple of, uh, details, but there’s a lot going on in the background.

So we can get, like, a really good built out user profile. Yeah. And that sort of just keeps it safe. I think, like, everybody’s against money laundering. Like, everybody is wanting to make these platforms safe and stable. I think, like, KYC is just, like, one thing you have to go with that. But you have to trust the party doing the KYC- Right

isn’t gonna exploit that KYC, right? Right. They’re not gonna sell your data. They’re not gonna use it to target you in other ways. They’re gonna, you know, unscrupulous ways. , it’s sort of a delicate balance. We wanna respect our users’ privacy, but also wanna ensure that they are who they say they are-

Luke: Right

Navid: and that we’re doing the right thing by our regulator standards.

Luke: Yeah, being a good citizen while also kind of, you know, delivering competitive product, right, like, uh, for users. ‘Cause I think, yeah, it, it is a really interesting time with all this stuff right now. We’re starting to see privacy come front and center in certain areas that were not necessarily as expected.

But, like, uh, it’s, it’s kinda turning us on for a lot of people. Um, so I think, like, you know, Web3 kinda promises a more open, [00:11:00] decentralized internet, but centralized exchanges like Binance US kind of remain the primary on-ramp for a lot of people. How do you see the role of regulated exchanges evolving as DeFi and self-custody pools become more accessible?

Navid: Good question. Um, you know, we launched a Web3 wallet last week. Oh. So we really see that this obviously is gonna be cool. But we wanted to do a little bit different take on it. You know, so you have the MetaMask, you have the, you know, Phantom wallets and stuff like that. Great products, but, you know, that’s a little bit of a bridge too far for some of the early crypto users.

Oh, yeah. So we wanted to make our Web3 wallet look like it’s the centralized exchange wallet. So you can get all the access to those cool products, but it also feels like you’re not really taking a big leap. Right. And I think that that’s key. You know, and I think, like, obviously, key management and things like that are tough, and we wanna have, like, full-time support with your Web3 wallet so that, like, people aren’t getting hacked, they’re not, you know, giving seed phrases, not getting locked out.

Luke: Yeah. Uh, so we’re trying to, like, strike that balance to sort of be like the, s- like DeFi light. Yeah. To get you in, and then, like, as you get deeper into it, you know, you can go further with the products and sort of go more and more and more into the DeFi [00:12:00] world.

I think that makes sense ‘cause, like, a lot of people in the crypto space kind of lose sight of the fact that, like, outside of the crypto native space, you know, people are used to dealing with banking apps.

They’re used to dealing with things that are centralized, right? Like, and I mean, it used to be that I would say, “Go, go on-ramp at a centralized exchange,” but then a lot of those UXs got more complicated with time. But, like, y- yeah, you’re not gonna break through to this next cohort of users if you’re not meeting them where they’re at and where they’re comfortable.

Navid: That, that’s what I think too. Like, you get the early users, but then bringing them along to get more utility out of crypto is what’s gonna keep them, and sort of to be that early bridge to get them into the DeFi wallets. I th- I think that’s a, you know, an area we can compete, and it’s been underutilized in the market.

Luke: Yeah. We’ve been seeing the US regulatory climate around digital assets shift dramatically in the past couple of years. , What does genuinely healthy regulatory framework look like to you? Kind of one that protects users without killing innovation.

Navid: Yeah, I, I, you know, I think one that preserves capital formation in, in sort of like a, a way.

Like, that’s why the US markets are so [00:13:00] strong and so liquid, right? So we don’t wanna hurt capital formation, right? So we wanna make it so you can raise money for your crypto product, you know, doing it in a safe, compliant way, that you’re following AML controls. I think that’s key. And I also think, like, allowing users to build the cool products onshore versus offshore.

So like, you know, the PERPs obviously coming onshore is huge win for that. And I think, like, allowing the derivatives, allowing the cool contracts, allowing the prediction market stuff, I think the US has made a huge leap in the last two years. Yeah. Uh, you know, under this very favorable presidential administration.

And I hope for, like, the next couple years we still preserve that.

Luke: Yeah.

Navid: I think the… We don’t wanna go back to the operation choke point where just, you know, we didn’t have clear rules, we were like, you know, uh, you know, everybody was just, uh, y- you know, it was a rule interpretation by, you know, litigation- Yeah

and enforcement, which is bad for everybody. Everybody was

Luke: scared to build. Moving targets everywhere. Yeah. It was terrible. Yeah, it, it was really bad. I mean, and I think like, uh, yeah, it, it’s one of those things where, like, if you can’t build, then you’re not innovating, right? Like, and we were certainly in a position where it was like you’re just trying to do the bare minimum to get by through this troubled time and, and [00:14:00] just kinda hope that things change for the better.

So I totally feel you on that. I, I think there’s a lot of new products hitting the market, like tokenized equities , and, and more and more tokenizations, RWAs, and stuff like that. Are you guys looking into that type of thing with Binance US?

Navid: Absolutely. I think the rules with that have to get a little clearer.

Yeah. So like, now if you transfer assets on chain for like a real world asset, it would have to go through a transfer agent.

Luke: Uh-huh.

Navid: So, like, doing it on chain wouldn’t even really matter. You know, it, it’s the paper trail through the, , transfer agent. So I think when that sort of changes and we’re allowed to do clearing on chain, that will really explode.

, We’re definitely gonna, you know, seek the license to get the broker-dealer from FINRA to do all this stuff so that we’re ready when it’s time. Do you think that it’s, like, moving in that direction? Oh, undoubtedly. I think, , the DTCC has come out and saying, like, really trying to be a forward thinking.

Because, you know, clearing agents would be one of the first things that would get sort of like, you know, clipped by, uh, the crypto industry. Yeah. So I think they’re, you know, gonna try to preserve their spot, so they’re just gonna adapt.

Luke: Is there a tension there that you guys are feeling? Like, I mean, obviously this tech is pretty disruptive.

I mean, we’re starting to see [00:15:00] a little bit of that tension with the CLARITY Act and things like, you know, stable coin yields, et cetera. Like, are you guys… Do you guys feel that tension when you’re, you’re, you’re bringing products to market against some of these more incumbents at any level, like policy or otherwise?

Navid: I, yeah, I think, uh, we haven’t had anything, like, really specific on that yet, but I definitely see it for other issuers, right? Yeah. Like, I mean, you know, I think transfer agents are obviously gonna be one of them. Like, clearing house is obviously gonna be another one that, you know, you don’t really need that stuff if you have blockchain, so.

Luke: Are you guys thinking about payments at all? Like, uh- Um- … with the stablecoin stuff that’s happening?

Navid: Absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, we are, are likely gonna launch a, a payment part of our platform as well. Uh-huh. I think that’s gonna be good. There’s, you know, big news today with Emirates Airline and crypto.com.

I think, like, we may end up seeing that, you know, like how you use Google Pay, you could just use, like, a Binance Pay or something like that. Yeah. And I think, like, you know, we don’t necessarily know where it’s gonna go. Crypto’s obviously great for payments. Um, so, be ready to see, like, what’s the next innovation, what people actually wanna use.

I think if we get a product out there and people seem to like it, we can obviously build upon it and just, you know, [00:16:00] keep catering that feedback loop and then, you know, get something that people actually wanna use.

Luke: Yeah. That’s awesome. Is someone building the next generation of financial infrastructure asked you what mistake they absolutely cannot afford to make, what would you tell them?

Navid: Good question. Great question. Uh, you know, I, I think if you don’t, if you try to, like, over-engineer your app and make it too complicated and too difficult, I think you just lose people.

Luke: Yeah.

Navid: I, I think you just gotta keep it really simple and meet customers exactly where they’re at- Yeah … and evolve over time.

I think just, like, listening to your customers is, , the most important thing by far. Not just, like, building something you think is gonna be cool, but actually try to get that feedback to- H-

Luke: have you guys built those kind of feedback loops in at the product?

Navid: I’m absolutely trying. You know, it’s hard to do, but, uh, you know, , every week I email, like, our top 100 customers- Nice

and say, like, “What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong?” Like, they don’t always respond, but when they do, usually it’s pretty substantive feedback, and we send it right to our product teams and say, you know, “Let’s fix this. Let’s do this. Let’s [00:17:00] ship this immediately, as fast as we can.” ‘Cause I think if we start to build that trust with our customers, um, it’s gonna obviously help our product, but then we are gonna really start to evolve.

We’re gonna get the word of mouth, we’re gonna get the organic traffic- Oh, yeah … and then it’ll start to build organically. Like, that’s how you build businesses.

Luke: 100%. Like, that’s what we do. Like, u- user first and, and, and keeping that line open is how you’re know you’re giving them something they want. I mean, like, a- and people, like, like, it seems like Binance US is taking a pretty, like, kind of a bread and butter, kinda conservative approach.

Are there features or, or offerings that you guys are bringing out, maybe ha- brought out recently or in the next couple months, that you’re really excited about that people should check out? I think the Web3 wallet that we launched last week was a great first launch- Nice … for our first product.

Navid: Like, I, it was re- exactly what I wanted. I think it, you know, split the difference between, like, being really DeFi and really sort of, like, looks like CeFi. Um, you know, I think really excited for obviously we’re gonna do prediction markets and derivatives pretty soon. You know, I’m excited for we’re gonna probably do a retail lending product pretty soon.

I’m excited that we’re gonna integrate more stable coin stuff and more yield products. We did this thing called a boost product, where it’s essentially users lock [00:18:00] up money and they get a higher yield. Oh, nice. I think that’s been really cool. Some of the l- smaller token projects have loved it. And I think, um, you know, just keep sort of pushing those things.

We don’t know what’s gonna be great, so we just try a bunch of different things, and sort of, like, bad ideas are good because then they t- steer us to good ideas. Right. So we just try to get it out as fast as we can. Yeah. It’s a tough market. Like- Yeah … I mean, like, things move so fast and, you know, you, just when you’re ready to ship something, the next trend hits.

Luke: I can only imagine. ,

Navid: You wanna, like, h- build that good licensing stack so when the next trend does hit, you can offer that quick.

Luke: Yeah.

Navid: And thankfully, we can leverage, you know, the Binance brand to say, , if they have a product working outside the US, we can license part of that product and make it compliant here in the US.

Nice. So we could really iterate quickly.

Luke: Well, and you guys did a Web3 wallet. I mean, BNB chain’s like a huge chain. Like- It’s a huge chain … uh, uh, uh, I think it’s under- underrated, like, in how much adoption it has, like, globally. I mean, like, are, are you guys, uh, a- as part of that Web3 strategy, you, you working with DApps in, in the communities out there to kind of, uh, uh, bring a lot of those DApps to light in the

Navid: product?

We’re certainly trying to. Yeah. And I think, like, one good thing about Binance is they’re sort of chain agnostic.

Luke: Yeah.

Navid: Like, obviously we [00:19:00] have BNB chain. Yeah. It’s its own separate blockchain, but that doesn’t mean we don’t list other chains. Sure. Like, some other places, like obviously some of the bigger exchanges favor their token and their L2 much more than other ones.

And I think, um, you know, we wanna just provide value for our customers regardless of the chain.

Luke: 100%.

Navid: And I think, like, that’s really important to- Our fundamental strategy, I think that’s different than a lot of the other guys.

Luke: Nice. Well, that’s awesome, man. Well, um, where can people v- find you online and then ch- and check out what you guys are doing at Binance US?

Navid: Uh, you can check my Twitter, or X, uh @steviesatoshi.

Luke: Awesome.

Navid: Or, uh, just follow us on, you know, binance.com, or Binance US, and, uh, you know, see what we’re up to. And we’d love to hear from all our customers, so I invite you to, you know, give me feedback direct.

Luke: Awesome. Well, Steve, I really appreciate you making the time to visit us today, and, and had a great conversation.

And yeah, I’d love to have you back to see what’s coming out, uh, you know, in the future. Thanks a lot. This was fun. All right, thanks, man. Appreciate it.

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