Binance announced January 16th Launch of a payment platform that allows institutional users to access exchange services while keeping their funds off-exchange.
A new service called Binance Mirror will be available to institutional users who have their assets locked in Binance Custody’s cold storage service.
These users can “mirror” the balances of their custody accounts to their exchange accounts. The mirrored funds can then be used in various trading and investment products on Binance, including VIP loans.
Binance will offer custody services from 2021. Athena Yu, Vice President of Binance Custody, commented on how the platform has evolved since then. she said:
spent a lot of time last year improving [Binance Custody’s] Operations for clients to unlock the liquidity of assets held in cold storage… [We] We can’t wait to introduce the next new feature that will make Binance Mirror even better.
Binance Mirror was not officially launched until today, but it seems that Binance has been offering the service for some time. According to the company, the mirrored assets now make up his 60% of all assets on the custody platform. He also said that assets mirrored from custody accounts to exchange accounts increased by 67% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Binance has not disclosed how much is stored in its custodian or mirror programs. The company’s recent proof-of-ready statement suggests it holds $69 billion in crypto assets, though it’s not clear if the statement accounts for all of the funds.
Binance Custody is not useful for retail users, but it is interesting for institutional users who must keep their funds in qualified institutions according to certain security standards.
Other notable institutional custody providers include BitGo, Coinbase Custody, Bakkt, Gemini, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Nasdaq.
