Binance is Buying Crypto Wallet Provider Trust Wallet

Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, just made its first acquisition. The company is purchasing crypto wallet provider and decentralized application browser Trust Wallet.

#Binance Acquires Trust Wallet – A Popular Mobile Crypto Wallethttps://t.co/2yY35u7AAb pic.twitter.com/L4ktVm6YCn

— Binance (@binance) July 31, 2018

As reported by Bloomberg, Binance did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Trust Wallet was launched in November 2017, allowing users to store more than 20,000 different Ethereum-based digital tokens, including ERC20, ERC223 and ERC721 coins. The firm has 10 employees.

One of the reasons users like Trust Wallet – in addition to its acceptance of different coins – is the fact that it doesn’t collect a lot of user data. In addition, users are in complete control of their funds.

This is a big deal for Binance. Traditionally, exchanges hold customer tokens in the exchange’s own servers and wallets. It’s a less-than-ideal solution where customers don’t technically own their funds until they withdraw, but they can easily sell or trade those funds on the exchange. By acquiring Trust Wallet, Binance could allow users to remain in 100% control of their funds while trading on Binance.

“The users control 100 percent of their funds,” explained Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng in an interview earlier today. “Now we have both a decentralized and centralized solution for custody.”

So yes, it appears Binance will offer Trust Wallet to its existing users, allowing users to choose whether they want to store funds in Binance’s centralized servers or in Trust Wallet’s decentralized, user-controlled storage.

Trust Wallet doesn’t access user wallets or hold private keys, making it a truly decentralized wallet. Instead, all keys are stored on your own device. Trust Wallet may, however, collect basic information from customers, including their public wallet addresses, contact information, and social media handles.

Trust Wallet had initially scheduled a token sale for June 2018. They later canceled that token sale due to legal risks.

Overall, Trust Wallet has built a name as one of the most secure wallets in the space, and Binance is clearly excited about the acquisition:

“The company has built a reputation for security and has held itself to the guiding principles that it will never access user wallets, hold private keys, and ask for personal information,”

“The Trust Wallet brand and team will retain the autonomy and freedom to develop the core product while benefiting from the increased synergy from Binance.”

The deal is not expected to be overly expensive, as Trust Wallet does not have a lot of users.

This is the first acquisition made by Binance. However, it won’t be the last: Zhao claims Binance is “in early-stage talks” with a few other acquisition targets.

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