Launching a crypto exchange can look straightforward from the outside.

You choose the trading model, add a few cryptocurrencies, connect wallets, build a trading interface, and prepare for launch.

But founders who have worked on real exchange projects know that the difficult part usually starts after the basic platform is in place.

A trading engine that slows down during high-volume periods. A wallet architecture that creates unnecessary security risks. Liquidity that looks sufficient during testing but disappears when real users arrive. Compliance requirements that were considered too late. These issues can turn an exciting launch into an expensive rebuild.

That is why a proper crypto exchange checklist matters before development begins.

Here are the areas founders should evaluate before committing resources to an exchange project.

1. Define the Exchange Model First

Not every crypto exchange should be built the same way. Your first decision should be the type of exchange you want to operate.

Common models include:

• Centralized exchanges
• Decentralized exchanges
• Hybrid exchanges
• Peer-to-peer exchanges
• OTC trading platforms

Each model affects the technology architecture, liquidity strategy, custody approach, security requirements, trading functionality, and regulatory considerations.

For example, a centralized exchange generally requires components such as user accounts, custodial wallets, an order book, matching engine, admin controls, and liquidity integrations.

A decentralized exchange has a very different architecture because trading logic can rely heavily on smart contracts and blockchain infrastructure.

Choosing the model after development has already started can create unnecessary changes to the entire platform.

2. Don’t Treat Liquidity as an Afterthought

A beautiful exchange with poor liquidity will struggle to retain traders.

Users expect orders to execute at competitive prices without excessive slippage. If the order book is thin, traders may move to another platform even if your interface and features are excellent.

Before development, decide how liquidity will be sourced.

Possible approaches include:

• Connecting external liquidity providers
• Integrating multiple exchanges
• Building liquidity pools
• Using market-making strategies
• Supporting internal order matching
• Combining multiple liquidity sources

The right approach depends on the exchange model and target market.

Liquidity should be considered part of the initial business and technical strategy, not something added immediately before launch.

3. Examine the Matching Engine

The matching engine is one of the most important components of a centralized exchange.

It determines how buy and sell orders are processed and matched.

Founders should ask:

• How many orders can the system process per second?
• How does it behave during traffic spikes?
• What happens when thousands of users trade simultaneously?
• How quickly are order book updates reflected?
• What happens if part of the infrastructure fails?
• Does the architecture support future trading volume?

A platform can have an impressive frontend while still delivering a poor trading experience if the backend cannot handle real market activity.

Performance testing should therefore happen before launch, not after users start complaining about delays.

4. Build Security Into the Architecture

Security shouldn’t be a final development phase.

An exchange handles valuable assets, sensitive user information, authentication credentials, transaction data, and trading activity. A weakness in any of these areas can have serious consequences.

A security checklist may include:

• Multi-factor authentication
• Role-based admin access
• Wallet security controls
• Encryption
• Withdrawal protection
• API security
• Session management
• Transaction monitoring
• Rate limiting
• DDoS protection
• Regular security testing
• Smart contract audits where applicable

Cold and hot wallet management also deserves careful planning, particularly for custodial exchanges.

The goal isn’t simply to add security features. The architecture itself should be designed to reduce unnecessary attack surfaces.

5. Plan the Wallet Infrastructure Carefully

Wallet functionality is another area founders sometimes underestimate.

If the exchange supports multiple cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks, wallet infrastructure can become increasingly complex.

You may need to manage:

• Deposit addresses
• Withdrawal processing
• Blockchain confirmations
• Hot and cold storage
• Transaction monitoring
• Multiple networks
• Asset balances
• Fee calculations
• Failed transactions
• Wallet reconciliation

Supporting an asset isn’t just a matter of displaying its symbol on the trading screen.

The backend needs to correctly handle blockchain transactions and maintain accurate balances across the platform.

6. Think About Compliance Before Development

Compliance requirements can influence the architecture of an exchange.

Depending on the target market and operating model, founders may need to consider areas such as KYC, AML, transaction monitoring, user verification, data protection, licensing, and reporting requirements.

This is where a common mistake happens.

A founder builds the platform first and starts thinking about compliance later.

That can force major changes to onboarding flows, transaction monitoring, user management, reporting systems, and administrative controls.

Compliance requirements should therefore be mapped against the product architecture from the beginning.

7. Don’t Build Features Just Because Competitors Have Them

A competitor may have 200 trading pairs, advanced charts, copy trading, staking, bots, margin trading, and multiple payment options.

That doesn’t mean your first release needs all of them. Start by identifying the features that directly support your target users.

For example, an initial exchange may prioritize:

• Spot trading
• Fast order execution
• Secure wallets
• User verification
• Deposit and withdrawal functionality
• Liquidity integration
• Trading charts
• Admin controls
• Transaction monitoring

Additional features can be introduced as the user base and trading activity grow.

A focused platform is often easier to test, secure, and operate than an overloaded first release.

8. Choose the Development Partner Carefully

This decision can affect almost every other item on the checklist.

Don’t evaluate a development company only by its portfolio screenshots or quoted development cost.

Ask about its experience with:

• Matching engines
• Exchange wallet infrastructure
• Liquidity integration
• Security architecture
• Blockchain integration
• Trading APIs
• Admin dashboards
• Scalability
• Compliance-related functionality
• Post-launch maintenance

It is also useful to understand whether the team has experience building the specific exchange model you are planning.

If you’re comparing development teams, reviewing a company’s cryptocurrency exchange development services can give you a better idea of the technologies, exchange models, and functionality that can be included in a platform.

The important point is to evaluate technical capability, not just marketing claims.

9. Test the Platform Under Realistic Conditions

A platform working correctly with ten test users doesn’t prove much. Before launch, test scenarios that resemble real activity.

For example:

• Large numbers of simultaneous users
• High order volumes
• Multiple deposits at once
• Heavy withdrawal activity
• Blockchain network delays
• API traffic spikes
• Failed transactions
• Unexpected server failures
• Database recovery
• Liquidity interruptions

Load testing and failure testing can reveal problems that aren’t visible during normal development.

The earlier these issues are found, the cheaper they usually are to fix.

10. Prepare for Scale Before You Need It

Scalability doesn’t mean building the biggest possible infrastructure from day one.

It means creating an architecture that can grow without forcing a complete rebuild.

Think about future requirements such as:

• More users
• More trading pairs
• More blockchain networks
• Higher transaction volumes
• Additional liquidity providers
• New trading products
• Mobile applications
• Institutional users
• Regional expansion

A modular architecture makes it easier to introduce these capabilities over time.

11. Don’t Forget the Admin Side

Founders often focus heavily on the trader interface and overlook the administration system.

But exchange operators need strong internal tools to manage the platform.

An effective admin dashboard may include:

• User management
• KYC review
• Asset management
• Trading pair management
• Deposit and withdrawal monitoring
• Transaction tracking
• Fee configuration
• Liquidity monitoring
• Risk controls
• Reports and analytics
• System alerts
• Role-based permissions

The admin panel is effectively the control center of the exchange. It needs the same level of planning as the user-facing application.

The Final Checklist

Before moving toward launch, ask yourself:

Exchange model: Is the platform architecture appropriate for the trading model?

Liquidity: Do we have a realistic strategy for maintaining liquidity?

Performance: Can the matching and trading infrastructure handle growth?

Security: Have wallet, API, authentication, and transaction risks been addressed?

Compliance: Have applicable requirements been considered from the beginning?

Wallets: Can the infrastructure safely support the assets and networks we plan to offer?

Scalability: Can the platform handle more users and trading activity without a major rebuild?

Admin tools: Can the operations team actually manage the exchange efficiently?

Testing: Has the platform been tested under realistic traffic and failure conditions?

Development partner: Does the technical team have relevant exchange development experience?

What Founders Should Really Take Away

The biggest mistake isn’t forgetting one feature.

It’s starting development before understanding how all the important components fit together.

A crypto exchange is more than a trading interface. It is a combination of trading infrastructure, wallet systems, blockchain connectivity, liquidity, security, compliance, administration, and scalability.

If these areas are planned independently, problems tend to appear later when they are more expensive to solve.

A good checklist forces founders to think beyond the launch screen.

Before asking how quickly an exchange can be built, ask a more important question:

Will the architecture still work when real users, real transactions, and real trading volume arrive?

That question can save months of development time and prevent costly decisions from becoming permanent problems.

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The Crypto Exchange Checklist Most Founders Skip — And Regret Later was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ever wondered how centralized crypto exchanges make money while running zero fee promotions and free withdrawal days? Most traders assume it all comes down to trading fees. Founders who try to build an exchange learn fast that it runs deeper than that.

A CEX does not need a single revenue source. Many exchanges spread out across trading fees, withdrawal charges, listing fees, margin interest, derivatives commissions, staking margins, launchpad fees, and premium data services. This piece covers all eight. It also covers what actually decides whether a CEX turns a profit in 2026.

What Is the Business Model of a Centralized Crypto Exchange?

At its core, a CEX offers trading, custody, and liquidity. It earns through transaction fees, plus extra services layered on top. Users bring volume. Volume deepens liquidity. Liquidity pulls in serious traders. Those traders bring even more volume. Revenue rides that loop.

Why Do Centralized Exchanges Need Multiple Revenue Streams?

Rules can shift by jurisdiction. Competitors race each other on fees until margins thin out. Trading activity can fall hard in a bear market. None of this is hypothetical. It has already happened to plenty of platforms. Exchanges that lean into lending, derivatives, staking, and data services keep earning even when spot trading goes quiet.

8 Revenue Streams of a Centralized Crypto Exchange

1. Trading Fees: The Core Revenue Stream

Most platforms run a maker taker model. Makers rest orders on the book and add liquidity. They pay less for it. Takers execute against those orders right away. They pay a bit more for the convenience.

Fees usually drop as a trader’s monthly volume climbs. VIP tiers reward the heaviest traders with fractions of a percent per trade. It sounds small. Multiply it by a busy exchange’s daily volume and it adds up fast.

2. Withdrawal and Deposit Fees

Crypto deposits are often free at the exchange level. Users can still run into network or payment provider costs, though. Withdrawals are the quieter earner. Crypto withdrawals usually include a network transaction fee. Depending on the exchange, a service margin gets added on top.

Not every blockchain prices this the same way. Bitcoin and Ethereum handle network fees differently, and other chains differ again. Fiat withdrawals often carry a banking partner fee too. Push withdrawal costs too far, and active traders quietly move to whoever charges less.

3. Token Listing Fees

Getting listed costs money. How much depends on the exchange, the project, and what the listing package covers. Some platforms charge modest amounts. Others charge far more. Several major exchanges have said publicly that they charge no listing fee at all.

Listing costs vary too widely to pin down a single number. What draws projects to a high volume exchange is exposure. A strong listing can bring real liquidity and visibility. It is not guaranteed, though.

4. Margin Trading and Lending Interest

Margin lets a trader borrow funds to size up a position. The exchange earns interest on that loan. If a position falls below the required maintenance margin, the exchange may liquidate it. This follows the platform’s own risk rules.

Some platforms also charge a liquidation fee on top of the interest already earned. This revenue pays well. It also leans hard on a liquidation engine that works when markets move fast.

5. Futures and Derivatives Trading Fees

Futures and perpetuals run on their own fee track, separate from spot trading. Perpetual contracts use a funding rate. It transfers payments between long and short traders directly. The exchange does not take a cut of that transfer. Instead, it earns from trading commissions, other derivatives related charges, and settlement fees when contracts expire.

6. Staking and Yield Based Services

Running a validator node is not for most people. Staking through an exchange skips that step. Users lock their tokens with the exchange. The exchange stakes them, often through its own setup or a partner’s. It keeps a portion of the rewards as a service fee.

That share varies by platform, asset, and jurisdiction. This is not a hands off business either. It involves validator management, custody, slashing risk, and compliance. Done well, it builds steady recurring revenue and keeps users on the platform longer.

7. Launchpad and Token Sale Commissions

Launchpads give early stage projects fast access to an exchange’s user base. Revenue models here vary. Some exchanges charge a project fee. Others take a token sale commission or sell promotional packages. A launch that performs well often pulls in new signups too. That ripple effect can outlast the launch itself.

8. Premium API, Data, and Institutional Services

Trading bots and institutional desks need higher rate limits and faster data than a free API tier offers. Exchanges package this into premium API plans, institutional desks, OTC services, and data subscriptions.

For some platforms this stays a small add-on. For others built around institutional flow, it becomes a real, high margin revenue line that goes well beyond retail trading fees.

How Much Revenue Can a Centralized Crypto Exchange Generate?

How Trading Volume Affects Exchange Revenue

Here is a simple estimate. Multiply monthly trading volume by a blended fee rate to get gross trading fee revenue. A platform running 500 million dollars a month at a blended 0.08 percent fee works out to roughly 400,000 dollars monthly from trading alone. Real revenue usually lands lower than this simple math suggests. VIP discounts, maker rebates, zero fee campaigns, and fee exemptions all chip away at the blended rate.

Example of a CEX Revenue Calculation

Treat these as illustrations, not benchmarks. Real fee rates and volume mixes shift by exchange and by region.

Which Revenue Streams Can Generate the Most Income?

For many retail focused exchanges, trading fees carry the biggest share of revenue. They scale directly with activity. That is not universal, though. Some exchanges lean more on institutional services, lending, or custody instead. Listing fees and launchpad commissions show up in large, irregular bursts. Staking and lending grow slower. They compound quietly as more users opt in.

CEX Revenue Streams Compared: Which Model Is Best?

These ratings are directional, not fixed. They shift by exchange model, market, and jurisdiction. No single row wins on its own. The exchanges with the strongest margins run several at once. They do not bet the business on one.

What Determines the Profitability of a Centralized Crypto Exchange?

Trading Volume and User Activity

A million dormant accounts earn less than a few thousand daily traders. Revenue follows activity, not headcount.

Liquidity and Market Depth

Thin order books widen spreads. Serious traders notice fast and leave. Deep liquidity keeps execution clean, and that is what keeps volume coming back.

Fee Structure and Competitive Pricing

Fee tiers are not really a pricing decision. They are a retention tool wearing a pricing decision’s clothes. Exchanges that forget this lose traders to whoever undercuts them next.

Security, Compliance, and Operating Costs

Custody systems, KYC and AML checks, security audits, and licensing are not optional line items. Cutting corners here can cause security incidents and regulatory penalties. In serious cases, it can cost the license to operate at all.

User Acquisition and Retention

One high volume institutional client can outearn many inactive retail accounts combined. Growth numbers look good in a pitch deck. Retention is what actually pays the bills.

How to Build a Revenue Generating Centralized Crypto Exchange

Choose the Right CEX Revenue Model

Map the revenue streams to the actual target users first. Do this before a single line of code gets written. Retail beginners respond to trading fees and staking. Professional traders respond to derivatives, margin, and API access. Building for the wrong audience wastes both.

Essential Features That Support Exchange Monetization

Most of these revenue streams need strong infrastructure underneath them. That means a matching engine, wallet and custody infrastructure, a configurable fee engine, liquidity integrations, an admin dashboard, KYC and AML workflows, risk management tooling, security infrastructure, and payment integrations.

Skip any of this early, and monetization gets bolted on later, badly. Working with an experienced centralized exchange development company from the start usually saves that rebuild.

Build Flexible Fee and Commission Structures

Hardcoded fees are a trap. Fee tiers, VIP pricing, promotions, and withdrawal charges all need to flex without a dev sprint. Markets move faster than most release cycles.

Integrate Multiple Revenue Streams From the Start

Bolting derivatives or staking onto a spot only exchange is slow and expensive. It usually costs more than designing for growth from day one. Build for multiple modules early. Adding a new revenue stream later becomes a configuration change, not a rebuild.

Common Mistakes When Monetizing a Centralized Crypto Exchange

Relying Only on Trading Fees: One revenue line, one bear market, one collapse.

Setting Fees Too High for Users: Aggressive fees chase away the exact traders generating the most revenue in the first place.

Ignoring Liquidity and Market Making Costs: No amount of fee tuning matters if the order book is too thin for serious volume to show up.

Adding Revenue Features Without Regulatory Review: Skip legal review before launching margin or derivatives. A single fine can undo months of revenue.

Focusing on Revenue Before User Trust and Security: Get hacked once, and most users never come back. It does not matter how well the revenue model was designed on paper.

Future Revenue Opportunities for Centralized Crypto Exchanges

Recent data backs this up, this is not guesswork. Institutional trading now makes up most crypto volume, not a niche slice of it. One 2026 industry report put institutional participation above 70 percent of total trading volume in the first half of the year. Tokenized real world assets are following a similar path. Tokenized Treasuries alone showed sharp year to date growth in 2026. Stablecoin settlement is moving the same way on the payments side.

Real economy stablecoin payment volume roughly doubled year over year, according to recent analysis. AI powered trading tools are also showing up on more platforms. This one is earlier stage and harder to size with hard numbers yet. Exchanges building toward institutional access, tokenized assets, and stablecoin rails now are setting up for revenue that outlasts the old fee only model.

Is a Centralized Crypto Exchange Profitable in 2026?

A centralized crypto exchange can be profitable in 2026. Profitability is far from guaranteed, though. It rests on trading volume, liquidity depth, competitive positioning, compliance, security spend, and how far an exchange pushes past basic trading fees.

Exchanges leaning on one revenue lever tend to struggle the moment that lever weakens. The ones still standing when the market cycle turns usually built a layered model and earned real user trust along the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.How do centralized crypto exchanges make money?
Mostly trading fees. Withdrawal charges, listing fees, margin interest, derivatives commissions, staking margins, launchpad fees, and premium API services fill out the rest.

2.What is the biggest source of CEX revenue?
For many exchanges, trading fees from spot and derivatives markets bring in the largest share. This varies by platform and business model.

3.How much does a crypto exchange earn per trade?
It varies widely by exchange, user tier, market, and order type. Many platforms use maker taker pricing with lower rates for higher volume traders.

4.Do centralized exchanges charge withdrawal fees?
Most do. They cover network transaction costs plus a margin. Promotions with reduced or waived fees show up often too.

5.How do crypto exchanges make money from token listings?
Projects pay for access to the exchange’s user base and liquidity. Whether a fee applies, and how much, varies significantly by exchange.

6.Are centralized crypto exchanges profitable?
Plenty are. It comes down to volume, liquidity, fee structure, compliance costs, and how well the revenue is spread out.

7.How do CEXs make money from staking?
The exchange keeps a portion of the staking rewards earned on a user’s behalf as a service fee. The exact amount varies by platform and asset.

8.How can I build a centralized crypto exchange with multiple revenue streams?
Design for trading, derivatives, staking, launchpad, and API modules from day one. Do not bolt them on after launch.

If you are past understanding these revenue streams and actually planning to build one, the real work sits in how the fee engine, liquidity layer, and compliance stack come together from day one. That is usually where an exchange either sets itself up for revenue that lasts, or ends up rebuilding its core a year in.

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How Centralized Crypto Exchanges Actually Make Money: 8 Revenue Streams Explained i was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Upbit opened Bifrost trading against the South Korean won and USDT on Sept. 10, giving BFC two additional markets on South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Upbit scheduled BFC/KRW and BFC/USDT trading to begin at 13:45 Korea Standard…

Changelly has been running as an instant crypto exchange and a platform for crypto purchases and cashouts since 2015. According to the company, its user base counts 12 million worldwide. The service works without a login for swaps: you pick…

Everyone remembers the exchanges that made it — Binance, Coinbase, Kraken. Nobody remembers the dozens that launched the same year and quietly disappeared. The difference usually wasn’t the idea. It was what happened during the actual crypto exchange software development phase, long before the first trade was ever placed.

If you’re exploring cryptocurrency exchange development right now, here’s what actually separates the platforms that scale from the ones that stall.

The Real Question Isn’t “Build or Buy” — It’s “What Am I Actually Building For?”

Before touching architecture, successful founders answer three questions:

1. Who is this exchange for? Retail traders, institutional desks, a specific region, or a niche asset class?
2. What kind of trading does it need to support? Simple spot trading, margin, futures, or all three?
3. How will it stay compliant where it operates? Licensing requirements differ wildly between the US, EU, UAE, and Singapore.

These answers shape everything downstream — the matching engine, the custody model, even the UI. Skipping this step is the single most common reason exchange projects go over budget and over timeline.

What Crypto Exchange Software Development Actually Involves

A production-grade exchange isn’t one product — it’s a stack of interdependent systems:

Matching engine The core that pairs buy and sell orders. It needs to handle thousands of orders per second with near-zero latency, or traders will simply go elsewhere during volatile markets — exactly when volume (and revenue) is highest.

Wallet infrastructure Hot wallets for daily liquidity, cold wallets for long-term security, and increasingly, multi-party computation (MPC) setups that remove single points of failure. Wallet architecture is where most historical exchange hacks actually happened, so this isn’t an area to shortcut.

Order book and liquidity management Either building deep order books organically or integrating with external liquidity providers so early users aren’t staring at empty markets.

KYC/AML and compliance layer Identity verification, transaction monitoring, and jurisdiction-based restrictions built in from day one, not retrofitted after a regulator asks questions.

Admin and risk management dashboard Real-time visibility into trading volumes, suspicious activity, withdrawal patterns, and system health — the operational backbone that keeps a growing exchange from becoming unmanageable.

Trading APIs For algorithmic traders and third-party integrations, since a meaningful share of exchange volume on mature platforms comes through API access rather than the web interface.

Custom Build vs. White-Label: The Trade-Off Nobody Explains Clearly

White-label solutions get you to market fast and cost less upfront. They’re a reasonable choice if you’re testing a niche market or a specific region and speed matters more than differentiation.

Custom cryptocurrency exchange development takes longer and costs more, but it means you own the architecture, aren’t boxed in by a vendor’s roadmap, and can build features — say, a specific derivatives product or a novel fee model — that a template simply won’t support.

Most experienced teams will tell you the same thing: white-label to validate demand, custom-build once you know exactly what you’re scaling.

Security Isn’t a Feature — It’s the Product

Ask any trader why they chose one exchange over another with identical fees, and security reputation is almost always in the top three answers. That means:

• Multi-signature and MPC wallet setups, not single-key custody
• Regular third-party security audits, not just internal review
• Cold storage for the majority of user funds
• Rate limiting and anomaly detection against bot-driven attacks
• A tested incident response plan, because “if” eventually becomes “when”

Exchanges that treat security as a checkbox rather than core infrastructure tend to learn this lesson the expensive way.

The Mistakes That Sink Exchange Launches

• Underestimating liquidity needs. An exchange with no depth in its order book loses trader trust in the first week.
• Compliance as an afterthought. Retrofitting KYC/AML after launch is far costlier than building it in from the start — and can trigger regulatory action in the meantime.
• Ignoring mobile. A large share of retail trading volume now happens on mobile apps, not desktop.
• Weak customer support infrastructure. Frozen withdrawals with no responsive support channel are the fastest way to lose users to a competitor.

Where the Opportunity Still Is

Despite how crowded the space looks, there’s still room — particularly in regional exchanges tailored to local regulation and payment methods, niche asset exchanges (DeFi tokens, RWAs, NFT-linked assets), and institutional-grade platforms built for compliance-heavy markets that generic global exchanges don’t serve well.

Final Thought

The exchanges that lasted weren’t necessarily first to market. They were the ones that got the unglamorous fundamentals right matching engine performance, wallet security, and compliance — before chasing growth. Whether you’re evaluating a development partner or scoping the build yourself, that’s the order that actually matters.

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Behind Every Successful Crypto Exchange Is a Decision Most Founders Get Wrong Early was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

BitMart appointed Alvarez & Marsal to review its finances and withdrawal arrangements, promising an action plan within three weeks.

A British Bitcoin investor has recovered 61 BTC worth roughly £3.3 million after losing access to the coins for more than 12 years following the collapse of early UK exchange Intersango. LBC reported that the investor, identified only as Chris,…

Can an iPhone comparison substitute for a business model? Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has argued that tokenized assets could reshape finance much as the iPhone enabled a new generation of technology companies. The comparison presents a platform thesis: blockchain-based assets could support businesses that are not yet apparent.

Armstrong made the case earlier in the week on X, comparing blockchain tokenization with the iPhone’s role in enabling companies such as Uber, TikTok, and Coinbase. He said tokenized assets could have a similar effect on financial markets and identified global access, better utility, and around-the-clock trading as immediate benefits.

Apple didn’t predict Uber, TikTok, or Coinbase. But the iPhone enabled an entirely new wave of companies.

Tokenized assets on blockchains will be similar. We already know the immediate benefits (global access, better utility, 24/7 trading), but a new set of finance companies we…

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) August 29, 2026

Discover: The Best Token Presales

Why Tokenized Finance Is Part of the Growth Conversation

Tokenized assets are digital tokens created on a blockchain that represent ownership or rights to real-world physical or financial assets. Armstrong’s argument is that moving these assets onto blockchains could create a foundation for new finance companies, rather than simply reproducing existing markets in a different format.

Japan officially moves to put its $8 TRILLION government bond market on blockchain.

The Financial Services Agency, Ministry of Finance, Bank of Japan, and the country's three megabanks are building a system for INSTANT 24/7 settlement of stocks and government bonds, per… pic.twitter.com/r3xZnqP4LR

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 25, 2026

Japan’s financial regulators and major financial institutions planned to study blockchain infrastructure for real-time settlement of stocks and bonds, with a strategy targeted by early 2027 and possible operations in the early 2030s. The proposal could tokenize bank deposits held at the Bank of Japan into digital currency for institutional blockchain settlement.

The Japanese effort is a multi-year regulatory and infrastructure process, not evidence of an imminent replacement for existing markets. Still, it shows that institutions and regulators are examining whether blockchain systems can support settlement for conventional financial assets.

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Coinbase Strategy

Coinbase has been expanding beyond crypto into stocks, prediction markets, and other products as part of a broader effort to offer customers access to more than one type of tradable asset. That strategy is intended to diversify the company’s revenue streams and broaden its customer base, although its success remains uncertain.

For now, Coinbase’s stock offering is conventional rather than tokenized. The company has relied on Apex Fintech Solutions for backend operations, and the offering was initially available to a small group of users, with plans to expand it to all customers.

Armstrong has said Coinbase sees a longer-term role in connecting traditional finance and crypto, including helping tokenized equities gain traction. He has also said the more compelling form of tokenization would be an asset represented one-to-one on a blockchain, with the associated rights of that asset.

Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio

The Case Against Calling It a Growth Engine

The central limitation of the current thesis is straightforward: Armstrong’s public comments outline a direction for tokenized finance, but they do not provide Coinbase-specific measures of product adoption, transaction volume, or revenue from tokenized assets.

There is also a difference between a belief that assets will increasingly move onto blockchains and proof that a particular company will lead that transition.

Coinbase’s expansion into conventional stock trading may create a broader customer offering, but it does not establish demand for tokenized equities or show how quickly the necessary regulatory and market infrastructure will develop.

Regulatory timing remains especially important. Congress has been debating the Clarity Act, legislation aimed at creating a framework for integrating crypto into the broader financial system, but that process has faced disagreements involving the crypto industry and banking sector.

Armstrong has said that newer companies may be the first to issue stock natively on a blockchain, while predicting a broader transition over time. Those are expectations rather than completed market developments.

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The post Coinbase Tokenization Bet Remains a Platform Hypothesis appeared first on Cryptonews.

Scroll through crypto Twitter or finance news lately and you will see the same two words everywhere: prediction markets. Election odds, sports outcomes, interest rate calls, even award show results are now things people trade like stocks. Kalshi alone processed $9.55 billion in trading volume in January 2026. That is up from $6.31 billion the month before, per Token Terminal data.

A year earlier, the same monthly number sat at just $175 million. What used to be a niche tool for political forecasters is now one of the fastest growing categories in crypto. If you run a crypto exchange, invest in one, or plan to build one, this is not a trend you can scroll past.

Why Prediction Markets Are Exploding in 2026

Prediction markets are not new. Economists have used them for decades because they forecast elections better than polls do. What changed is the infrastructure underneath them. Blockchain settlement, stablecoins, and mobile first apps turned a slow academic tool into a fast, liquid market that never closes.

Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket proved something. People do not just want to bet on sports. They want to trade opinions on almost anything, from Fed decisions to box office numbers. Combined monthly volume across the sector hit $17.21 billion in January 2026 alone. That is a 48 percent jump from December.

Then U.S regulators started treating some event contracts as real financial instruments instead of gambling. That opened the door for compliant exchange products built around them. This regulatory shift matters more than any single hype cycle.

What Are Prediction Markets and How Do They Work?

A prediction market lets people trade contracts tied to a real world event. If you think something will happen, you buy a YES contract. If not, you buy NO. When the event resolves, the winning side gets paid, usually one dollar or token per contract, and the losing side gets nothing.

The contract price doubles as a probability. If YES trades at 65 cents, the market thinks there is roughly a 65 percent chance the event happens. That number updates live as news breaks and traders pile in. Compare that to a sportsbook, where the house sets the line instead of the crowd.

Every market follows the same basic path. Someone proposes a question with clear resolution rules. The market opens for trading. An oracle confirms what actually happened. Then the platform settles every contract automatically. That last step, automated settlement, is exactly where crypto infrastructure earns its keep.

Why This Is the Next Crypto Exchange Opportunity

Crypto exchanges already have what prediction markets need. Wallets, matching engines, stablecoin rails, and users comfortable trading probability and volatility. Turning real world events into tradable markets is a natural next step, not a leap into unfamiliar territory.

A crypto exchange and a prediction market platform mostly differ in what gets listed and how settlement happens. That is why exchange operators keep exploring prediction market platform development instead of starting from scratch. Order book logic, custody systems, and compliance groundwork can mostly carry over.

Teams already deep into a prediction market exchange development project usually find they are extending infrastructure they already built, not inventing something new.

Prediction Markets vs Sportsbooks and Financial Markets

People lump prediction markets in with sports betting, and that undersells them. A sportsbook sets the odds and takes the other side of your bet. A prediction market works differently, since prices come from supply and demand between traders and the platform just matches orders and takes a fee. That looks a lot more like a futures exchange than a betting shop.

Whether prediction markets count as gambling or finance is still being argued jurisdiction by jurisdiction. But the mechanics look like an exchange, not a casino. Kalshi’s fee structure backs that up. It reportedly earns around 1.2 percent of total trading volume, similar to how a traditional exchange charges on turnover.

2026 Trends Reshaping the Industry

Stablecoins tie the whole industry together. They enable 24/7 global trading. No banking hours, no currency conversion delays. Here is what is actually driving growth this year:

• Sports markets, the biggest volume driver, accounting for the large majority of daily trading activity on platforms like Kalshi
• Political and election markets, which bring the most attention and new users
• Weather and climate markets, useful for hedging real world uncertainty
• Finance and technology event markets, covering things like rate decisions and product launches
• Entertainment and awards markets, where fans trade on outcomes they already follow

How Blockchain Is Transforming Prediction Markets

Centralized prediction markets are fast and simple, but you have to trust the operator. Decentralized versions run everything through smart contracts, which removes that trust requirement but can slow things down. That tradeoff is why most serious platforms launching in 2026 pick a hybrid model, keeping the trading engine centralized while settlement moves on chain.

Smart contracts handle settlement automatically, locking funds and releasing them the moment an outcome is confirmed. Oracles make this trustworthy, since they pull verified real world data on chain, and getting oracle selection wrong is one of the fastest ways a market loses credibility. Stablecoins act as the settlement layer throughout, and cross chain design keeps mattering more as liquidity spreads across different blockchains.

What Makes a Platform Successful

Liquidity is everything. A market with no active traders on both sides is not really a market, just a static bet. Beyond that, a platform earns trust through a few concrete things:

• Deep liquidity across popular and niche markets alike
• Fast, transparent resolution once an event ends
• Wide market variety, not just sports or politics
• Simple mobile onboarding with minimal friction
• Visible proof against manipulation and frozen withdrawals
• A clean trading interface backed by a fast matching engine
• Solid wallet and stablecoin integration
• Real time charts and price alerts
• AI features that surface trending markets and personalize discovery

Business Models and Revenue Streams

Most platforms earn the bulk of revenue from trading fees. Kalshi’s own numbers make the case. It brought in roughly $260 million in revenue in 2025, nearly ten times what it made the year before. The full revenue stack usually looks like this:

• Trading and transaction fees on every buy or sell order
• Withdrawal fees on fiat or stablecoin cash outs
• Market creation or listing fees for custom questions
• API and data licensing sold to funds, media, and researchers
• B2B licensing of the underlying platform technology to other operators

Building, Regulating, and Growing a Prediction Market Business

Building a platform generally moves through this sequence:

• Define the business model and target market
• Choose a centralized, decentralized, or hybrid architecture
• Build the trading and matching engine
• Integrate oracles and resolution mechanisms
• Add wallet, stablecoin, and payment infrastructure
• Implement KYC, AML, and risk controls
• Test, audit, and launch

Cost depends heavily on scope. A basic MVP with manual resolution costs far less than a full platform with automated oracle settlement built in from day one. That is why many teams start with a scoped MVP and scale from there.

Regulation is a moving target. U.S. rules are still being worked out case by case, and platforms have to manage a recurring set of risks:

• Geo restrictions and user eligibility by jurisdiction
• KYC and AML compliance
• Market manipulation and insider information
• Oracle and resolution disputes
• Liquidity and user acquisition together
• General regulatory uncertainty as rules keep shifting

Platforms that build strong safeguards against these risks early tend to turn compliance into an advantage instead of a cost.

How AI Could Transform Prediction Markets

AI is already changing how people find and evaluate markets. It surfaces relevant questions based on what someone already trades, and scans news to flag when a price is lagging behind real information. On the operations side, AI helps platforms monitor liquidity and catch suspicious trading patterns as they happen.

Prediction Markets vs Crypto Exchanges

A crypto exchange’s business depends on token listings and price volatility. A prediction market’s business depends on something bigger: the sheer number of measurable events in the world. Technologically, the two are close cousins. But user growth potential might be the real differentiator.

Crypto exchanges are mostly limited to people already interested in crypto. Prediction markets can pull in anyone interested in sports, politics, or finance. That wider audience is a strong argument for prediction markets becoming their own exchange category.

The Future Beyond 2026

Past 2026, prediction platforms will likely grow into broader global event exchanges. They will cover categories that are not tradable markets today. Tokenized contracts will make cross border participation easier.

Institutions will start using these markets for real risk hedging, not just speculation. Over time, prediction markets could become a new financial information layer, the same way stock prices give real time data on companies.

Should You Launch a Prediction Market Platform in 2026?

The strongest niches sit outside the most crowded categories. Sports and politics are already dominated by well funded platforms. Weather, niche finance, and vertical specific markets still have room for a differentiated entrant. What actually differentiates a new platform is rarely the interface, it is resolution speed and trust in how disputes get handled.

Launching one makes the most sense when you already have exchange infrastructure, or a niche audience you understand better than the incumbents do. Before you commit, weigh two things. Your access to reliable oracles. And whether you can sustain liquidity long enough for the platform to become self reinforcing.

Prediction markets are not a passing trend riding on election season attention. They are turning into infrastructure that touches sports, politics, finance, and everyday uncertainty all at once, and the volume numbers from the last twelve months back that up.

For anyone already running exchange technology, this is one of the more natural adjacent markets to explore. The hardest parts, custody, matching, and compliance, are problems you have likely already solved once.

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Prediction Markets Are the Next Crypto Exchange Trend in 2026 was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Bitcoin Magazine

Kraken Says ‘Dust Attack’ From Sanctioned HTX Wallet Locked Out Customers

Crypto exchange Kraken clients were reportedly locked out of their accounts after receiving tiny amounts of sanctioned digital coins. 

In a statement to Bitcoin Magazine, Kraken said the coins were transferred in what is known as a “dust attack” — when small quantities of cryptocurrency is sent to numerous wallet addresses to track and de-anonymize them.

Kraken said the aim of the transactions was to trigger compliance checks by spreading sanctioned funds onto other platforms. Bloomberg first reported the news. 

“We don’t know who is behind these attacks, but they likely expect that if sanctioned funds land in a client account, it triggers a full account lock, causing operational disruption for a large number of users,” a Kraken spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson added that its customers were briefly locked out of their accounts but its “compliance team mobilized quickly to restore access while continuing to hold the sanctioned funds as required.”

“We are working with authorities to ensure these attacks don’t have their intended impact,” the statement added. 

A total of 12,000 such transfers were sent from the wallet to addresses linked to Kraken between this month, Bloomberg reported, citing Arkham Intelligence. Arkham identified the wallet as linked to HTX based on addresses the exchange has publicly disclosed as part of its proof of reserves.

Chinese exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi, is one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges. The European Union sanctioned it in July because it has, according to European authorities, helped ​Russians evade sanctions. 

“Recent dust attacks from HTX-owned wallets appear to be an attempt to spread UK- and EU-sanctioned funds to other platforms in order to discredit the broader industry,” the Kraken spokesperson continued. 

Dusting has been happening for years. Back in 2022, someone sent celebrities Ethereum from a Tornado Cash wallet one day after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the coin mixing app used by North Korean state-sponsored hacking groups. 

Celebrities targeted in the 2022 dusting attack included comedian Jimmy Fallon, YouTuber Logan Paul and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. The feds said they wouldn’t prosecute the celebrities hit with sanctioned crypto. 

This post Kraken Says ‘Dust Attack’ From Sanctioned HTX Wallet Locked Out Customers first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

The cryptocurrency exchange industry has changed considerably over the past few years. In 2026, launching an exchange involves much more than creating a trading interface and connecting a few blockchain networks.

Businesses now need to think about security, liquidity, transaction processing, wallet infrastructure, scalability, compliance requirements, blockchain connectivity, and the overall user experience.

This makes the choice of a development partner an important part of planning an exchange.

But comparing cryptocurrency exchange development companies can be difficult. Many providers offer similar services, while their technical approaches, areas of expertise, customization options, and project experience can differ.

So, rather than looking only at marketing claims, it makes sense to evaluate companies based on the areas that matter when building and operating an exchange.

This article looks at five cryptocurrency exchange development companies worth knowing in 2026 and explains what businesses should consider when comparing them.

What Should You Look for in an Exchange Development Company?

Before getting into the list, it is useful to establish a few evaluation criteria.

A development company should ideally understand the technical requirements that sit behind the visible trading interface.

1. Exchange Architecture

The trading interface is only one part of an exchange. A complete platform can include a matching engine, order management system, wallets, blockchain nodes, databases, APIs, administrative controls, user management, and third-party integrations.

The architecture connecting these components can have a major impact on performance and scalability.

2. Security

Security is particularly important because exchanges manage digital assets and sensitive user information.

Businesses should examine how a development partner approaches authentication, wallet protection, encryption, access controls, API security, transaction monitoring, infrastructure protection, and smart contract security where applicable.

3. Scalability

An exchange that performs well with a small number of users may face very different technical requirements as activity increases.

The architecture should therefore account for future growth in users, trading pairs, transactions, trading volume, and blockchain integrations.

4. Liquidity

Liquidity directly affects the trading experience. Businesses should understand how the proposed platform can connect with liquidity providers, aggregators, market makers, or other sources of market liquidity.

5. Customization

There is no single exchange model that fits every business. Some organizations may want a centralized exchange, while others may be interested in decentralized, hybrid, P2P, or white-label solutions.

The ability to customize the platform around a specific business model can therefore be an important consideration.

With these factors in mind, here are five companies worth researching in 2026.

1. Dappfort

Dappfort is a blockchain and Web3 development company that works on cryptocurrency exchange and digital asset solutions.

Its exchange development work covers different models, including centralized, decentralized, hybrid, and P2P exchanges.

One reason businesses may want to evaluate Dappfort is its broader focus on blockchain infrastructure rather than limiting exchange development to the trading interface.

An exchange can require several interconnected components, including wallet infrastructure, blockchain integrations, liquidity connectivity, APIs, administrative functionality, and security mechanisms.

Dappfort’s exchange development offering addresses these areas as part of its broader blockchain and Web3 development capabilities.

Another consideration is customization. Businesses developing an exchange may have specific requirements around trading functionality, supported assets, blockchain networks, user management, fees, liquidity, or administrative controls. The development approach needs to account for these requirements instead of assuming that every exchange should use the same architecture.

For businesses researching exchange development, Dappfort’s cryptocurrency exchange development services provide information about the different components that can be involved in building an exchange platform.

Areas to evaluate:

• Centralized exchange development
• Decentralized exchange development
• Hybrid exchange development
• P2P exchange development
• Wallet infrastructure
• Blockchain integration
• Liquidity integration
• Smart contract development
• Web3 development
• Custom platform development

The important point is not simply that a company offers these services. Businesses should determine how those capabilities fit their particular exchange model and long-term plans.

2. Opris

Opris is a cryptocurrency and blockchain development provider that offers solutions across different exchange models.

Its offerings include centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, and white-label exchange solutions.

White-label platforms can be an option for businesses that want to start with an existing exchange foundation instead of developing every component from the ground up.

However, businesses considering this approach should investigate how much of the platform can be customized.

Questions around the trading interface, supported assets, wallet infrastructure, liquidity, administrative functionality, integrations, and future upgrades can make a significant difference.

Areas to evaluate:

• Centralized exchange solutions
• Decentralized exchange solutions
• White-label platforms
• Trading functionality
• Liquidity integration
• Wallet functionality
• Blockchain connectivity
• Customization options

For businesses comparing ready-made and custom approaches, understanding the trade-offs between development speed and architectural flexibility is particularly important.

3. Antier Solutions

Antier Solutions is a blockchain development company with experience across cryptocurrency, digital assets, and Web3 applications.

Its broader blockchain capabilities can be relevant for businesses that want their exchange to connect with other blockchain-based products or services.

When evaluating a provider with this type of background, businesses should look beyond the exchange interface.

The underlying infrastructure, supported blockchain networks, wallet architecture, security approach, scalability strategy, and integration capabilities are all worth examining.

An exchange may eventually need to connect with additional applications, assets, payment systems, or blockchain networks. Planning for these possibilities during the initial architecture stage can reduce complications later.

Areas to evaluate:

• Cryptocurrency exchange development
• Blockchain solutions
• Digital asset applications
• Smart contract development
• Web3 development
• Blockchain integrations
• Custom development

The suitability of any provider ultimately depends on how well its technical capabilities match the requirements of the planned platform.

4. SoluLab

SoluLab is a software and blockchain development company that works across several technology areas, including blockchain and Web3 solutions.

For businesses researching cryptocurrency exchange development, its broader software development capabilities can be relevant when an exchange needs to interact with other applications or business systems.

A cryptocurrency exchange is rarely a completely isolated product.

It may need APIs, payment integrations, blockchain connectivity, wallet infrastructure, analytics, user management, and administrative systems.

This means businesses should evaluate not only whether a company can develop the exchange itself, but also whether it can handle the surrounding technical ecosystem.

Areas to evaluate:

• Blockchain development
• Cryptocurrency solutions
• Web3 development
• Smart contracts
• Custom software
• Digital asset applications
• API and system integrations

Businesses should also ask how the proposed architecture will handle future platform expansion.

5. Blockchain App Factory

Blockchain App Factory is another blockchain development provider that businesses may encounter when researching cryptocurrency exchange development companies.

Its work spans different blockchain and digital asset use cases, making it another company that can be included in an initial comparison.

For an exchange project, businesses should examine the provider’s capabilities around trading infrastructure, blockchain integration, wallet functionality, security, customization, and ongoing technical support.

One useful way to approach the evaluation is to separate the initial launch requirements from future development requirements.

For example, an exchange may initially support a limited number of assets but later expand to additional networks and trading pairs. The original architecture needs to leave enough room for that growth.

Areas to evaluate:

• Cryptocurrency exchange development
• Blockchain development
• Wallet solutions
• Web3 applications
• Smart contracts
• Digital asset solutions
• Platform customization

The objective should be to determine whether the company’s technical approach is suitable for the specific exchange rather than choosing based only on the number of advertised services.

How Should Businesses Compare Exchange Development Companies?

A list of development companies is useful as a starting point, but it should not be the final step.

The right development partner depends heavily on the type of exchange being planned.

For example, a centralized exchange may require:

• A high-performance matching engine
• Custodial wallet infrastructure
• Liquidity connections
• Trading APIs
• User management
• KYC and AML integrations
• Administrative controls

A decentralized exchange has a different technical structure.

It may rely more heavily on:

• Smart contracts
• On-chain transactions
• Automated market makers
• Token integrations
• Blockchain infrastructure
• Smart contract security

A hybrid exchange can require elements of both approaches. This is why businesses should define their requirements before comparing providers.

Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Development Partner

What type of exchange are you building?

Start by identifying whether the platform will be centralized, decentralized, hybrid, P2P, white-label, or another model. The answer will influence the technology architecture and development requirements.

How will security be handled?

Ask how user accounts, wallets, private keys, transactions, APIs, and administrative systems will be protected. It is also worth asking how security testing and monitoring will be handled after launch.

Where will liquidity come from?

Understand whether liquidity will be provided through external providers, liquidity aggregators, market makers, internal mechanisms, or a combination of approaches.

Can the architecture scale?

Ask how the platform is expected to handle growth in users, transactions, trading pairs, and blockchain activity. A development partner should be able to explain the architecture in practical terms rather than simply saying that the platform is scalable.

What can be customized?

Find out which components can be modified. This could include the user interface, trading engine, admin panel, wallet infrastructure, fee structure, supported assets, APIs, and user management system.

What happens after launch?

Exchange development does not end when the platform goes live. Updates, infrastructure monitoring, maintenance, security improvements, blockchain upgrades, new integrations, and feature development may all be required over time.

Understanding the post-launch support model before development begins can prevent misunderstandings later.

Why the Development Approach Matters in 2026?

The technology behind an exchange can influence the business far beyond its initial launch.

A poorly planned architecture can make future upgrades difficult. Adding new blockchain networks may become complicated. Increasing transaction volume can expose performance limitations. Security improvements may require major changes if they were not considered during the original development.

A better approach is to think about the exchange as an evolving technology platform.

The initial version should address the immediate business requirements while leaving room for future improvements.

This could mean planning for additional blockchain networks, new trading pairs, different liquidity sources, institutional users, new payment methods, or additional digital asset products.

The development company therefore becomes more than a technical vendor. Its understanding of architecture and long-term platform requirements can influence how easily the exchange evolves.

Final Thoughts

Choosing a cryptocurrency exchange development company in 2026 requires more than comparing feature lists.

Businesses should examine the technology architecture, security approach, scalability strategy, liquidity model, customization options, blockchain expertise, and long-term support offered by each potential development partner.

Dappfort, Opris, Antier Solutions, SoluLab, and Blockchain App Factory are five companies that can be included in the research process.

However, the best choice will depend on the individual business requirements.

A company planning a centralized exchange may have very different priorities from one building a decentralized or hybrid platform.

The most practical approach is to first define the exchange model, target users, supported assets, required integrations, security expectations, scalability requirements, and future roadmap.

Once those requirements are clear, businesses can compare development companies based on their ability to build and support the infrastructure needed for that specific vision.

In an industry where the technology behind the platform can directly affect its reliability and ability to grow, choosing the right development approach may be just as important as choosing the development company itself.

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Top 5 Cryptocurrency Exchange Development Companies in 2026 Worth Knowing was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

BitMEX will move into strict risk-limit mode on August 26 as part of its planned exchange wind-down.

Starting at 04:00 UTC, users will only be able to close or reduce existing positions. New positions will no longer be allowed. Trading services are scheduled to permanently cease on September 23 at 04:00 UTC, according to the exchange’s official notice.

BitMEX has described the process as a voluntary and orderly business wind-down following a strategic review.

That distinction matters.

The announcement should not be framed as insolvency, bankruptcy, or regulatory enforcement unless the company says so. The current message is that BitMEX is winding down operations on a controlled timeline.

TL;DR

• BitMEX will enter close-only risk-limit mode on August 26 at 04:00 UTC.
• Users will not be able to open new positions after that point.
• Trading services are scheduled to permanently cease on September 23 at 04:00 UTC.

Why Close-Only Mode Matters

Close-only mode is a major step in any exchange wind-down.

It prevents new risk from being added while giving users time to reduce exposure. That helps the platform manage open interest, margin, liquidation risk, and settlement obligations before the final shutdown date.

For traders, the message is practical.

Open positions need attention. Users should understand deadlines, withdrawal processes, settlement mechanics, and any fees or restrictions that apply during the wind-down period.

Waiting until the final days can create unnecessary risk.

BitMEX Was Once A Defining Crypto Venue

BitMEX has a major place in crypto market history.

For years, it was one of the most influential derivatives platforms in the industry. Its perpetual swap products, leverage culture, and trader community helped shape how crypto derivatives developed.

The exchange’s wind-down therefore carries symbolic weight.

It shows how much the market has changed. Competition has intensified, regulatory expectations are higher, and liquidity has spread across centralized exchanges, decentralized perpetuals platforms, and regulated futures venues.

BitMEX is no longer the dominant force it once was.

Risk Limits Protect The Wind-Down

The strict risk-limit phase gives the platform a more controlled path toward closure.

If users could keep opening new positions until the final moment, the exchange would face more operational complexity. Close-only mode reduces that risk by gradually shrinking exposure.

This is especially important for derivatives.

Leverage, margin requirements, liquidation engines, and funding mechanics can create problems if a platform winds down too abruptly. A staged approach can reduce market disruption and give users time to act.

Not A Token Delisting Story

This is not the same as a single token delisting.

A token delisting affects a specific market. An exchange wind-down affects the entire trading venue or defined platform scope. That makes user communication and operational planning more important.

Traders should check the exchange’s official notices directly.

Deadlines, withdrawal windows, account restrictions, and position management instructions matter more than secondary commentary.

What Comes Next

The next key date is August 26.

Once close-only limits begin, BitMEX users will lose the ability to open new positions. The final trading-services deadline on September 23 will then become the main shutdown milestone.

For the wider market, the wind-down is another sign that crypto exchange competition is maturing.

Some venues are growing. Some are consolidating. Some are exiting. Traders are moving across regulated products, offshore platforms, and decentralized derivatives markets.

BitMEX’s planned closure marks the end of one chapter in crypto derivatives — and a reminder that even historically important exchanges are not guaranteed permanent relevance.

This article is based on BitMEX’s official wind-down notice and related exchange materials.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released in disclosures at primary source documentation.

Learn how to choose the right crypto exchange solution in 2026 by understanding security, compliance, essential features, scalability, technology, cost, and future trends.

Introduction

Choosing a crypto exchange solution in 2026 requires more than comparing prices or counting features. A business needs to understand how the platform will support users, protect transactions, manage liquidity, connect with other services, and grow with demand. The right choice should match the business model, target market, technical resources, compliance needs, and long term goals. White Label Crypto Exchange Software can be one option, but the important decision is not the label. The real question is whether the solution fits the business. This guide explains the main areas to evaluate so businesses can make a practical and informed decision.

Understand Your Business Requirements

Start by defining what the exchange must actually do. Identify supported assets, expected user volume, target countries, payment methods, trading pairs, and customer service needs. Decide whether the business needs spot trading, margin trading, derivatives, staking, or other services. While budget is crucial, it shouldn’t be the sole consideration. Consider development, hosting, security monitoring, compliance, maintenance, support, and future upgrades.

Check Security and Compliance

Security should be evaluated before design or speed. Look for strong authentication, encryption, secure wallet management, withdrawal controls, access permissions, monitoring, backups, and protection against common attacks. Compliance depends on the country and business model. Check requirements related to customer verification, transaction monitoring, data protection, licensing, tax reporting, and financial regulations. Legal requirements can change, so businesses should verify current rules with qualified professionals before launching.

Evaluate the Most Important Features

1. Trading engine

A reliable trading engine should process orders accurately and efficiently. Check order matching performance, supported order types, execution speed, and stability during high activity.

2. Wallet management

The wallet system should support secure deposits, withdrawals, address management, transaction tracking, and appropriate asset controls.

3. Liquidity management

Liquidity affects trading quality and user experience. Check how liquidity can be connected, monitored, and managed across supported markets.

4. User account system

Users need simple registration, identity verification, account security, transaction history, notifications, and clear dashboards. A complicated account experience can increase support requests.

5. Admin controls

Administrators should have controls for users, assets, fees, transactions, permissions, reports, and system activity.

6.API and integrations

APIs allow connections with payment services, market data providers, analytics platforms, security tools, and other business systems. Well documented APIs can reduce future development effort.

7.Reporting and analytics

Reports should help teams understand trading activity, revenue, user behavior, transaction trends, and operational performance.

Compare Technology and Total Cost

Do not compare solutions only by the first quoted cost. Study scalability, database performance, cloud compatibility, API quality, update processes, and integration flexibility. Calculate total cost over time. Include setup, customization, infrastructure, security, compliance tools, technical support, maintenance, and future development.

Think About the Future of Crypto Exchanges

The exchange market is becoming more focused on automation, stronger security, better user experience, and intelligent data use. Artificial intelligence can support fraud detection, customer assistance, risk monitoring, personalization, and operational analysis. Mobile first experiences, faster settlement, broader payment connectivity, stronger compliance automation, and transparency will remain important. The best solution is not necessarily the one with every feature today. It is the one that can adapt when user expectations, regulations, and technology change.

Test Before Making the Final Decision

Before choosing a solution, request a practical demonstration or test environment. Check registration, verification, deposits, withdrawals, order placement, trading history, notifications, admin controls, reports, and API behavior. Test the experience from both user and administrator perspectives. Create realistic scenarios, including high traffic, failed transactions, suspicious activity, password recovery, and system interruptions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most important factor when choosing an exchange solution?

Security, compliance, reliability, scalability, and user experience should be evaluated together. No single feature guarantees success.

Is the cheapest solution the best choice?

Not always. A low initial cost may become expensive when customization, maintenance, security, integrations, or scaling are added later.

How important is scalability?

It is essential because users, transactions, and trading activity can increase quickly. Technology should support growth without major performance problems.

Should businesses focus on AI features?

AI can provide useful automation and analysis, but it should solve real business problems. Security, compliance, reliability, and strong core technology should come first.

How should businesses compare different providers?

Use the same checklist for every option. Compare security, compliance support, features, technology, integrations, scalability, documentation, support, total cost, and testing results.

Overall

Choosing the right crypto exchange solution in 2026 is a structured decision, not a quick purchase. Businesses should begin with clear requirements, then examine security, compliance, core features, technology, total cost, scalability, and future readiness. Practical testing is equally important because real workflows can reveal issues that feature lists cannot show. A strong decision comes from matching technology with business goals, user expectations, operational capability, and changing market conditions. When each factor is evaluated carefully, businesses can create a clearer foundation for a secure, useful, scalable, and future ready crypto exchange experience.

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How to Choose the Right Crypto Exchange Solution for Your Business in 2026 was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Upbit’s trading activity surged sharply as Bitcoin’s latest rally brought South Korean crypto traders back into the market.

CoinGecko exchange data showed Upbit’s 24-hour trading volume rising 273% to roughly $1.84 billion on August 21. The move marked the exchange’s strongest daily volume since mid-March 2026, with XRP standing out as one of the largest traded assets at around $418.9 million in volume.

That is a sharp move for one of Asia’s most important crypto exchanges.

South Korea has always been a highly active crypto market, but local participation tends to come in waves. When Bitcoin rallies and retail appetite improves, volume on exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb can rise quickly. When sentiment fades, local activity can cool just as fast.

So the volume spike matters, but it needs careful framing.

This does not prove that South Korea’s crypto market has permanently recovered. It does show that traders there are responding quickly to renewed Bitcoin strength.

TL;DR

• Upbit’s 24-hour trading volume rose 273% to about $1.84 billion.
• The exchange recorded its highest daily volume since mid-March 2026.
• XRP was one of the standout assets, with roughly $418.9 million in volume.

Why Upbit Matters

Upbit is one of the most influential crypto exchanges in South Korea.

When local trading volume spikes there, it can say something about regional risk appetite. South Korean traders have often played a major role in altcoin liquidity, momentum trades, and retail-driven crypto cycles.

That makes Upbit volume useful as a sentiment signal.

A 273% jump does not mean all of Asia is suddenly in full bull mode, but it does show that local traders were far more active than they had been in the prior session. When that kind of move happens alongside a Bitcoin rally, traders tend to ask whether retail participation is widening again.

That is the key question here.

Bitcoin Still Drives The Broader Market Mood

Even though XRP was a major contributor to volume, Bitcoin remains the broad market driver.

When BTC moves strongly, it often changes the mood across exchanges. Traders become more willing to rotate into larger altcoins, derivatives activity rises, and local spot markets can see renewed depth.

That appears to be part of the Upbit story.

Bitcoin’s rally gave traders a reason to return. Once participation increased, volume flowed into other major assets as well. XRP’s large volume share shows that local demand was not limited to BTC alone.

This is common in South Korea, where altcoin trading can become highly active during risk-on periods.

Volume Is Not The Same As Long-Term Demand

The caution is that exchange volume can be noisy.

A single-session volume spike may reflect short-term momentum, arbitrage, leverage, exchange promotions, news-driven activity, or local trader enthusiasm. It does not automatically translate into steady long-term demand.

That is why follow-through matters.

If Upbit volume remains elevated over several sessions, the signal becomes stronger. If volume falls back quickly after the Bitcoin move cools, the August 21 spike may look more like a burst of reactive trading.

For now, the best read is that Korean traders came back quickly when the market gave them a reason.

Korea Remains A Market To Watch

South Korea’s role in crypto is larger than its population size would suggest.

The country has active retail investors, strong exchange infrastructure, and a long history of influencing altcoin liquidity. When Korean volumes rise, global traders notice.

This can be especially important during rallies because regional activity can reinforce momentum.

If Bitcoin continues to hold higher levels and Korean exchange volume stays strong, traders may treat the move as evidence that retail interest is widening beyond US ETF flows and institutional headlines.

That would be meaningful.

The Clean Read

Upbit’s 273% volume jump is a strong short-term signal.

It shows that South Korean traders are responding to Bitcoin’s latest rally, with activity spreading into high-volume assets like XRP. It also shows that regional spot markets can still wake up quickly when momentum returns.

But the market needs more than one session.

The next test is whether volume holds, whether Bithumb shows similar strength, and whether Bitcoin’s rally continues to support broader risk appetite.

For now, Upbit is back on traders’ screens — and that alone says something about how quickly crypto sentiment can turn.

This article is based on public CoinGecko exchange-volume data.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released in disclosures at primary source documentation.

Cybersecurity has become one of the most defining business challenges of recent times. Organisations have invested heavily in protecting their networks, securing cloud environments and strengthening identity and access management. At the same time, organisations are under increasing pressure to prove they are handling sensitive information securely, not just storing it safely but protecting it throughout its journey.

Yet despite this progress, one area continues to receive far less attention than it deserves: how data is shared.

Most organisations have become very good at protecting data while it is stored. Files are encrypted, key handling is properly managed, access is restricted and systems are monitored around the clock. However, once that information needs to leave the organisation, whether it’s being sent to a customer, supplier, auditor or business partner, the controls often become less robust.

Every day, organisations exchange contracts, financial information, employee records, legal documents and commercially sensitive files. More often than not, this happens via email attachments or cloud-based file-sharing services because they are familiar and convenient. The problem is that convenience does not always equal security.

Email remains one of the most common routes for cyber attacks. Phishing, spoofed domains, malicious attachments and business email compromise continue to account for a significant proportion of successful breaches. However, most incidents do not involve a sophisticated bad actor. The official UK annual Cyber Security Breaches Survey continues to show the majority of incidents stem from everyday mistakes.  An email sent to the wrong recipient, an attachment forwarded outside the organisation or a file shared with overly broad permissions can expose sensitive information in seconds.

Human error remains one of the biggest cyber risks organisations face, particularly as businesses become increasingly connected. Information now flows constantly between employees, customers, suppliers, consultants and regulators. Every transfer creates another opportunity for something to go wrong.

What is often overlooked is that securing data is not just about protecting where it is stored. It is also about understanding the journey it takes.

Many organisations assume that because they operate in the UK, their sensitive information remains within UK borders. In reality, emails and attachments may be routed through multiple countries and cloud infrastructures before arriving at their destination. While this is often an invisible part of modern digital communications, it raises important questions around governance, compliance and data sovereignty.

For organisations operating in regulated sectors, this matters. Financial services firms, local authorities, healthcare providers and legal organisations are increasingly expected to demonstrate not only that data is protected, but also that it is managed responsibly throughout its entire lifecycle. Knowing where information is stored is only part of the picture. Understanding where it travels, who has access to it and how it is controlled has become equally important.

This is why conversations around geofencing and data sovereignty are gaining momentum. Rather than simply encrypting information and hoping for the best, organisations are beginning to ask whether they should have greater control over where sensitive data is permitted to travel. If businesses routinely place restrictions on the movement of physical assets, it seems only logical that they should apply similar thinking to digital information.

At the same time, regulators and auditors are asking more searching questions about how organisations exchange information with third parties. They want to understand how access is controlled, whether there is a complete audit trail and what safeguards exist once information leaves the organisation. These are no longer technical questions reserved for IT teams. They are governance issues that increasingly involve compliance, procurement, risk and senior leadership.

There is also a growing disconnect between the way organisations work and the security controls they have in place. Hybrid working, cloud collaboration and increasingly complex supply chains mean information rarely stays within a single organisation. Yet many businesses continue to rely on processes that were designed for a very different way of working.

This is where a change in mindset is needed.

Cybersecurity should not end when a document is saved securely on a server or in the cloud. Information is often at its most vulnerable when it is moving between people, organisations and systems. Protecting data in transit should therefore be considered just as important as protecting data at rest.

That does not mean making it harder for employees to do their jobs. Quite the opposite. Security should support the way people work, allowing information to be shared safely without creating unnecessary barriers or encouraging workarounds that introduce even greater risk.

Organisations need to take a more holistic view of information security. Protecting sensitive data means understanding its entire lifecycle, from creation and storage through to sharing, collaboration and eventual deletion. It means knowing not only who can access information, but where that information is travelling and whether that journey aligns with the organisation’s security, compliance and governance obligations.

Threats aren’t standing still, and neither are regulators. Focusing only on data that’s sitting in storage means missing one of the biggest holes in your security. It’s not enough to just lock data away; it needs to stay safe wherever it travels.

*DOQEX provides a secure data exchange and email gateway platform that helps businesses protect confidential information.

 

The post The Hidden Risk in Data Transfer appeared first on IT Security Guru.

Two Seattle-area health and longevity startups are joining forces through Viome Life Science‘s acquisition of Circulate Health. The two parties would not share specifics but said the deal was valued between $15 million and $50 million.

The acquisition will allow the companies to expand their reach and offerings of diagnostics, wellness supplements and a blood-cleaning service called therapeutic plasma exchange.

Here’s what each brings to the table:

• Viome sells test kits for saliva, blood and stool samples for customers to use at home and send in for analysis. Based on the results, the company offers personalized supplements and oral care products.
• Viome has also developed diagnostic tools that analyze RNA biomarkers to detect disease, including a test for early detection of oral and throat cancer that has received FDA breakthrough device designation but not formal FDA clearance.
• Circulate operates machines providing therapeutic plasma exchange administered by its own specially trained nurses. The goal of the exchange is to provide a circulatory-system tune-up that removes inflammatory factors, microplastics and biological compounds associated with aging, returning clean blood cells with a replacement protein fluid.

Combining the services and expertise of the two companies could expand their reach and provide new insights into health and treatment, said Dr. Brad Younggren, Circulate’s co-founder and former CEO.

“We want to build the largest network in the world for plasma exchange to answer questions, to figure things out. We’re adding new diagnostics. We’re looking at different kinds of biomarkers and diagnostics in the chronic disease space,” Younggren said.

The merged company has 115 full-time employees, with an additional 10 consultants on staff. Most of Circulate’s workers retained their jobs following the acquisition. Younggren is now president of the newly formed clinical group, Viome Pro, which includes diagnostics, oral and throat cancer detection, and therapeutic plasma exchange. Naveen Jain is Viome’s CEO and co-founder.

Circulate operated in stealth mode for a couple of years and officially launched in January 2024. It raised $14 million prior to the acquisition. Viome was founded a decade ago and has received approximately $250 million from investors.

Circulate had previously operated in 40 health and longevity clinics, primarily in the U.S., with one each in the United Kingdom and the Bahamas, and had relationships with additional sites. Combined with Viome’s clinic partnerships, those connections could expand the company’s potential reach to 400 sites.

The expansion comes as both microbiome testing and plasma exchange face questions from the medical community about how well the evidence supports their claims of health benefits.

The microbiome health market is growing, though estimates of its size vary widely. Some researchers are wary of microbiome kit companies, criticizing a lack of scientific rigor and regulation.

Plasma exchange is considered medically effective for conditions including certain cases of multiple sclerosis and leukemia, Guillain-Barre syndrome, sickle cell disease, and organ transplants. The treatment has more recently been embraced by biohacking proponents who pursue cutting-edge and not necessarily scientifically verified strategies for improving mental performance and longevity.

In 2025, Circulate published a study of 42 adults in Aging Cell showing potential reductions in biological age following repeated treatments, though outside medical experts questioned the long-term significance of the findings. A separate 2026 study in the Journal of Clinical Apheresis showed its protocols helped reduce microplastics in the blood.

“We’ll continue to do research,” Younggren said. “We have new tools. We’re going to be doing a trial combining plasma exchange with all the technologies that already exist under the hood at Viome.”

Washington state has assembled the country’s deepest bench of quantum technology assets — including two major cloud platforms, a national lab and the first U.S. quantum computer factory — but has captured almost none of the federal money now driving the industry.

That disconnect is the focus of a report released Tuesday morning by the Washington Technology Industry Association, the Northwest Quantum Nexus and the state Department of Commerce.

Since a January 2023 assessment, Washington state’s quantum ecosystem “has grown denser, more visible, and physically larger,” reads the report, authored by Nirav S. Desai, CEO of innovation consultancy Moonbeam Exchange. “Yet the state has fallen behind peers on the coordinated public investment that converts assets into a resilient cluster.”

The report makes five recommendations:

• Use the governor’s office to convene a standing group — universities, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, companies, investors and the Commerce Department — that decides which federal grants to pursue and assembles joint bids for funding.
• Pick one to three specialties to compete in, such as post-quantum cryptography or industry applications, rather than chasing all of quantum.
• Build the workforce at all three levels: developers first, then the missing undergraduate and technician programs.
• Position the Seattle region and Washington state as a landing pad for Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese quantum companies.
• Create a single point of contact for founders, and promote the quantum machine access the state already has but hasn’t advertised.

“This isn’t a resource problem; it’s a coordination problem, and that’s the good news,” said Nick Ellingson, WTIA’s vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship, in a news release.

Quantum computers, which have yet to be proven commercially viable, can hold multiple states at once and could eventually solve problems beyond the reach of conventional machines.

The report points to efforts by states including Illinois, Maryland and Colorado, which have committed $500 million, roughly $200 million and $127 million respectively to quantum campuses and research hubs.

In Washington state, Microsoft and Amazon are among the major tech companies leveraging their research to build quantum platforms and technology. Maryland-based IonQ’s Bothell, Wash., plant, the country’s first dedicated quantum computer factory, employs about 100 people, part of an expansion the report says could generate 1,200 to 2,000 jobs within five years.

Gov. Bob Ferguson vetoed $100,000 for a state quantum strategy in May 2025, citing fiscal pressure, while directing the Commerce Department to build industry partnerships and produce policy recommendations. Tuesday’s report was funded by a grant administered by Commerce.

In April, Ferguson steered $500,000 from the state’s Strategic Reserve Fund to IonQ’s Bothell expansion, Washington’s first direct investment in quantum.

Illinois, by comparison, has committed more than $500 million to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a campus near Chicago anchored by PsiQuantum and IBM.

Read the full report here.

Binance has completed its 36th quarterly BNB burn, permanently removing more than 1.6 million BNB from circulation in one of the largest scheduled supply reductions for the token to date.

The burn destroyed 1,615,827.795 BNB, valued at roughly $931.7 million at the time of the event. The tokens were sent to the BNB Chain dead address through the network’s Auto-Burn mechanism, continuing Binance’s long-running plan to reduce the total BNB supply over time.

Token burns are familiar in crypto, but they are not all equal. A small burn can be little more than marketing. A burn close to $1 billion is harder to ignore, especially when it involves one of the largest exchange-linked assets in the market.

For BNB holders, the important question is whether supply reduction can keep supporting the token’s long-term economics while the broader Binance ecosystem continues to evolve.

Reference: BNB Chain

TL;DR

• Binance completed its 36th quarterly BNB burn.
• The burn removed 1,615,827.795 BNB, worth about $931.7 million.
• The event continues the Auto-Burn programme designed to reduce BNB supply over time.

Why The BNB Burn Matters

BNB’s burn programme is one of the central pieces of the token’s economic design.

The idea is simple: reduce supply over time and make the remaining tokens scarcer. In theory, that can support long-term value if demand remains stable or grows. In practice, the market still has to weigh burns against trading activity, regulatory pressure, Binance ecosystem growth, and broader crypto sentiment.

That is why each quarterly burn gets attention.

A burn does not automatically make a token rise. Markets are forward-looking, and traders often know a burn is coming. But the size of the latest event is still significant. Removing more than 1.6 million BNB from circulation gives investors a concrete supply-side update at a time when exchange tokens are under closer scrutiny.

BNB is not just another altcoin. It sits close to Binance, BNB Chain, trading fees, ecosystem incentives, DeFi activity, and user behaviour across one of crypto’s largest platforms.

That makes the burn both a tokenomics event and an ecosystem signal.

Auto-Burn Keeps The Process Predictable

The Auto-Burn mechanism matters because it makes the process less discretionary.

Earlier token burns across crypto sometimes felt like manual announcements designed to create attention. Binance’s Auto-Burn model is intended to create a more predictable supply-reduction schedule based on network and market conditions.

That predictability can help investors understand the token’s long-term supply path.

According to the available project materials, the 36th burn sent BNB to the dead address on BNB Chain, permanently removing the tokens from circulation. The supporting BscScan address provides the on-chain record of the burn destination.

This kind of transparency is useful because tokenomics claims need verification. A project can say tokens are burned, but the market wants to see the movement on-chain.

For BNB, the burn programme also ties into the broader commitment to reduce supply toward the long-term target. That gives the token a structural scarcity narrative, even if price still depends on demand.

Supply Reduction Is Only Half The Story

The burn is important, but BNB still needs demand.

A shrinking supply can support a token only if users, traders, developers, and ecosystem participants continue to find reasons to hold or use it. That is why the BNB Chain ecosystem matters alongside the burn schedule.

BNB is used across exchange-related activity, gas fees, ecosystem participation, and DeFi applications. It is also tied to the perception of Binance’s strength as a global crypto brand. If Binance and BNB Chain remain active, burns can reinforce the token’s economic case. If demand weakens, burns alone may not be enough.

That is the balance traders will be watching.

The latest burn comes as exchange tokens face a more mature market. Investors no longer look only at supply reduction. They want to know whether the ecosystem is growing, whether regulatory risk is manageable, and whether the token has durable utility beyond speculation.

For BNB, the answer remains closely tied to Binance’s broader reach and BNB Chain’s continued activity.

What Traders Watch After The Burn

The immediate price reaction to a burn can be noisy.

Some traders buy before the event and sell after. Others treat the burn as long-term background rather than a short-term catalyst. Market conditions also matter. If Bitcoin and Ethereum are under pressure, even a large BNB burn may not drive a sustained move.

The more important signal is whether BNB can maintain demand over time as supply continues to decline.

If BNB Chain activity grows, exchange usage remains strong, and token utility stays relevant, the burn programme can strengthen the long-term narrative. If activity weakens, the supply story becomes less powerful.

That is why the 36th quarterly burn should be read as part of a bigger picture.

It is a serious supply reduction, not a magic price lever. It reinforces the tokenomics case, but it does not replace the need for ecosystem growth.

For now, Binance has delivered another large burn on schedule. The next test is whether the market treats that reduced supply as meaningful in a more selective crypto environment.

This article is based on information from BNB Chain and BscScan.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

This report is based on information released by BNB Chain. at BNB Chain