Binance Is Organizing a Consortium to Try to Rebuild Trust in Crypto: Source

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is helping assemble a consortium of crypto companies with a view to rebuilding trust in the industry and taking on an active role in coming regulations, according to a person with knowledge of the plans.

A number of companies have already signed up to come on board, spanning the crypto industry from individual projects, exchanges and blockchain analytics firms, the person said, without naming any of the firms involved.

Binance declined to comment.

The global crypto industry is in a difficult spot right now, braced for tougher regulation following last year’s wave of retail losses and collapsing companies. Binance is not the first exchange to back a self-regulatory organization (SRO), with the Winklevoss-owned Gemini having been vocal about such efforts since 2019.

The consortium will not be run by Binance, the person said, but rather “will be run in as decentralized manner as you possibly can amongst many different projects to ensure an alignment with the community.”

The goal of the incipient group is to work with regulators around the globe, and to show how advanced the industry is when it comes to combating criminal elements, according to the person, who also referred to former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried’s unhealthy consolidation of power in crypto as a reason for the group's formation.

“[The creation of the group is] also to ensure there’s a mechanism in place to call out shortcomings and bad behavior in the industry, and help avoid larger contagion issues,” the person added.