Binance VIP and Institutional Business Leaders: Exchanges are just the entry point; what truly matters is the global infrastructure underlying crypto finance.

Chain News during Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai (Binance Blockchain Week) exclusively interviewed Catherine Chen, Binance’s VIP and Institutional Business Lead. Her insights revealed the full landscape beyond the familiar “Binance Exchange” and disclosed Binance’s potential role in the emerging digital financial era.

Binance’s “VIP Team” Is Actually a Global Financial Infrastructure Department

The public often views Binance as a retail trading platform, but on the institutional side, Binance’s role has gradually expanded into a global crypto infrastructure provider. Catherine mentioned in an interview that the VIP and institutional business department goes far beyond sales and customer service; it is a comprehensive product and technology center responsible for helping global financial institutions access digital assets. She stated, “Our mission isn’t to cater to big clients, but to build a robust infrastructure so that financial institutions can safely enter the crypto world.”

The department covers sales, customer service, product teams, technical engineering, and multiple business lines, functioning closely as an “enterprise-grade fintech provider.”

Binance Wealth: Enabling Small Financial Advisors to Offer Crypto Under the Binance Brand

Regarding Binance Wealth launched last year, Catherine clarified that this isn’t Binance entering wealth management but serving a large number of small independent financial advisors (IFAs).

In Latin America, this model has rapidly gained popularity: small IFAs already sell overseas policies, funds, structured products but lack the capacity to build crypto infrastructure themselves. Binance provides brand licensing, technology, and product lines, while clients maintain relationships through IFAs.

In other words, Binance becomes the backend crypto provider for small financial advisors.

Binance Prestige: Institutional Turning Point Enabled by ETF Launch

Launched this year, Binance Prestige is a product tier above Wealth, targeting ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals and family offices (FOs). Catherine pointed out that after institutions like BlackRock issued Bitcoin ETFs, traditional family fund attitudes have shifted significantly: “Initially, the younger generation played with coins; after ETFs came out, the older generation started to seriously consider allocations.”

Prestige offers:

• Customized crypto asset allocations
• Stablecoin valuation and yield pursuit
• Crypto-native products (staking, yield-generating, structured)
• Large OTC execution and strategic design

These services are difficult for traditional private banks to provide.

Crypto as a Service: Frontend for Financial Institutions, Backend for Binance

Catherine believes another key product this year is Crypto as a Service (CaaS). This service allows banks, brokerages, digital banks, e-wallets, and even non-financial apps (ride-hailing apps) to offer crypto trading within their own app/web interfaces, while Binance handles the backend: liquidity, matching engines, custody, wallet infrastructure.

“What you see as crypto trading in a bank app could be entirely provided by Binance.”

Each financial institution can tailor functionalities based on regulatory and risk preferences, such as: only allowing on-account trading, no deposit/withdrawal, modular combinations.

The most complete real-world case is currently in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, where regulators tend to be more open.

Ceffu and Third-Party Banking Agreements: Solutions When Financial Institutions “Don’t Want to Touch Coins”

Catherine also introduced a common approach for Binance’s institutional clients — the Banking Tri-Party agreement.

Typical architecture:

• Client (institution or high net worth individual)
• Traditional financial institution (bank)
• Binance (liquidity provider)

Operation: Assets are held in Ceffu custody, liquidity is linked to Binance for trading, so clients don’t need to hold large assets on exchanges. Banks can manage risks within their regulatory framework. This model suits those who want to engage in crypto but avoid direct coin handling or fully open retail finance.

“This is currently the most mature and practical transitional solution.”

Why Are Emerging Markets Moving Faster Than Taiwan?

Catherine said they know they don’t have time.

She observed that policymakers in the Middle East and Central Asia are more proactive: they understand their own currencies are fragile and view crypto and CBDCs as opportunities to enhance financial competitiveness. Their regulatory attitudes are clear, enabling rapid industry integration. In contrast, Taiwan remains in discussion stages regarding stablecoins.

Guests from Taiwan lament that many stablecoin forums feature speakers who are not native to crypto; discussions often stay at an abstract level. “Taiwan’s biggest current issue is: who will issue stablecoins? What digital economy will they connect to? These are still unclear.”

Market Volatility Doesn’t Affect VIP Clients?

Catherine: “Experienced users are very clear about the risks.”

When asked whether Bitcoin volatility has caused large-scale institutional withdrawals, Catherine laughed and said:

“ETF users might be nervous, but most Binance VIP clients are veterans. They might reduce their positions but won’t exit the market.”

She believes that VIP clients who have experienced multiple bull and bear cycles have already established effective risk frameworks.

How Does Binance VIP Business Make Money?

The core is trading commissions. One of the most common questions from outsiders. Catherine’s answer is surprisingly simple: “We rely on trading fees. Everything else that’s free, we make free. If we have to charge, it’s only to cover costs.”

This means Binance doesn’t profit from selling tools, solutions, or advisory services. Its goal is to create a stable trading environment and deep liquidity to attract more institutional users as trading and infrastructure backend. As a result, Binance’s cost structure in B2B collaborations remains highly competitive.

Finance and Crypto Will Ultimately Converge. The True Question Is: Where Does Taiwan Stand?

From Catherine’s sharing, we see:

• Binance is transforming from an exchange into a “global crypto infrastructure provider.”
• Emerging markets are actively embracing crypto and CBDCs.
• Traditional financial institutions are seeking lower-risk entry points.
• Crypto assets are becoming a new allocation for family offices and UHNW clients.

Her final remark, the most weighty of the entire interview, was: “Traditional finance and crypto finance will converge. The question is: is your market ready?”

In the financial innovation experiments already launched in Singapore, the Middle East, and Latin America, will Taiwan choose to accelerate, observe, or miss out? The answer depends on regulatory attitudes and industry collaboration in the coming years.

This article Binance VIP and Institutional Business Lead: Exchanges are just the entry point; the real importance lies in the global underlying infrastructure of crypto finance. Originally published on Chain News ABMedia.