Binance Launching Payment Provider Bifinity

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume has launched a fiat-to-crypto payments provider.

In a post on its blog, Binance said that its ecosystem would be powering Bifinity, with which it seeks to facilitate crypto payments for merchants and businesses to spread adoption. The announcement underscored the usability of the new platform, highlighting intuitive APIs for merchants and user-friendly access points for consumers.

“As the crypto and the Web3 economy continue to grow, we see greater demand to build improved fiat-to-crypto on-ramps to bridge the gap between the traditional finance industry and the decentralized and centralized crypto economy,” said Bifinity President Helen Hai. “With the launch of Bifinity, we aim to accelerate mass crypto adoption.”

With the launch of the payment platform, Bifinity will directly compete with Block Inc., formerly known as Square Inc., known for its Cash App. CEO Jack Dorsey recently left his position as CEO of Twitter in order to focus on further developing the blockchain capacities of the company, which was reflected in the name change.

Binance and Ukraine

As the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, many who have called for the trading platforms to ban Russian users in light of the country’s invasion of Ukraine would hope Binance would comply. However, CEO Changpeng Zhao recently said that such a blanket ban would be “unethical,” but acknowledged that it would bar any potentially sanctioned users. “Whoever is on the sanctions list, they won’t be able to use our platform; for whoever is not, they can,” Zhao said.

In spite of Zhao’s indifference towards pleas for prohibiting Russians, he does sympathize with the plight of Ukraine. Binance recently launched a charity foundation to assist the beleaguered Ukrainians, donating $6 million at the outset. The crypto platform also launched a crypto crowdfunding site called the Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund.

“We are proud to have been able to quickly rally our network to provide relief and support on the ground to those in need,” Zhao said. “This includes helping provide food, fuel, supplies, and shelter for Ukrainians, which include countless Binance community members.”