From legacy clearing to on-chain settlement: Richard Teng, Co-CEO Binance, on the evolution of financial infrastructure

“If you rethink from now on the future of financial services and given today’s tools, architecture, infrastructure and I say build a new bank, build a new securities firm, build a new asset manager, you’ll not be the model that you see in the past.”This assessment from Richard Teng, Co-CEO of Binance, captures a shift that more market participants are paying attention to: the underlying infrastructure behind money movement, trading, and settlement is being redesigned around modern digital rails.Speaking on the Figuring Out podcast hosted by Raj Shamani, Teng described how financial services could evolve when systems are built with today’s technology constraints and user expectations in mind.

In his view, parts of the global financial system still rely on layered processes that were designed for a different era of market connectivity, operating hours, and settlement mechanics.Teng’s perspective reflects his background across traditional finance and regulation. In the conversation, he argued that interest in blockchain-based systems is increasingly tied to infrastructure-level efficiency, how value moves, how ownership is recorded, and how quickly settlement can be finalised, rather than purely retail speculation.

Dismantling the operational friction of legacy market clearingTeng pointed to the operational complexity of legacy clearing and settlement, where timelines and workflows vary by asset class and jurisdiction, and where post-trade processing can involve multiple intermediaries and reconciliation steps. In many traditional market structures, settlement has historically taken multiple business days (often described as T+2 in equities), which can introduce operational overhead and counterparty exposure while trades are still being finalised.From a digital-asset infrastructure perspective, blockchain-based settlement systems can shorten that loop by recording transfers and ownership changes on shared ledgers, with transaction finality dependent on the network’s confirmation process.Teng emphasised this technical distinction in the discussion, noting, “In crypto we have already moved to atomic settlement. It’s instantaneous because the technology provides for them.”In practice, confirmation and finality can differ by network and implementation, but the broader idea is consistent: settlement can be designed to complete in near-real time, reducing the need for layered back-office reconciliation in certain workflows.Binance also highlighted how trading-hour boundaries shape risk management in traditional markets. When markets close overnight or over weekends, participants can have limited ability to respond to major news events until sessions reopen.

Always-on markets can change that dynamic. Digital-asset markets typically operate 24/7, which can offer continuous access to liquidity and more flexible risk management, depending on market conditions.The rise of the multi-asset platform ecosystemBinance argues that a practical outcome of modern financial rails is the emergence of platforms designed around multi-asset access and unified user experiences.

Historically, an investor often needed separate accounts, distinct documentation, and different intermediaries to access different asset categories, which created friction and increased costs.Teng described the direction as broader than crypto access alone, saying, “We are a financial Super app, so beyond crypto, we offer our investors exposure, ability to take positions across a suite of products, right? It's not only crypto, it is commodities, its petrochemicals, its precious metals, its US stocks, its pre-IPO as well. And the products we keep expanding."In general terms, digital infrastructure can support a model where eligible users access multiple markets through a single interface and wallet experience, subject to local regulations and product availability.

Depending on jurisdiction, these models may include digital assets and tokenised or blockchain-linked representations of other instruments.Binance Research has also explored how tokenisation and on-chain distribution could shape market access over time, including potential impacts on participation and capital formation. Any projections should be read as research-based scenarios rather than guarantees, and outcomes will depend on regulation, infrastructure, and adoption across markets.Designing smart regulation for sustainable innovationDrawing on his experience as a former regulator, Richard framed “smart regulation” as a balancing act between containing risk and enabling progress. In his view, the easiest regulatory approach is to drive risk to zero by restricting activity, but that also removes the economic value users and markets rely on. A more sustainable path, he argued, is to engage with new technology directly and build clear frameworks that protect users while giving useful innovation room to develop.Teng also addressed the concern that comes with open, always-on financial networks: the same accessibility that gives users more control can also be exploited by bad actors.He stressed that fraud is a broader financial-services problem, and that it has accelerated as more activity shifts online and as AI makes scams easier to scale and harder to spot. His view was that the response has to be practical and layered, combining stronger guardrails, continued investment in user protection, and clear education that helps people recognise common red flags before moving funds.As an example, he pointed to Binance’s ongoing investment in anti-fraud systems, including more than 100 AI models designed to identify suspicious patterns and trigger user warnings ahead of potentially risky transfers. He also underscored that technology can help, but it does not replace judgment, and encouraged users to do their own research and understand what they are engaging with before taking on risk.*You must be at least 18 years old to access this siteemail id : [email protected]References:1. Binance Research. "Primary Markets Meet On-Chain Access." (https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/primary-markets-meet-onchain-access)2. Binance Research. "The Equity Layer: From Tokens to Tickers." (https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/equity-layer-from-tokens-to-tickers)Disclaimer: Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. The above content is non-editorial, and TIL hereby disclaims any and all warranties, expressed or implied, relating to the same. TIL does not guarantee, vouch for or necessarily endorse any of the above content, nor is it responsible for them in any manner whatsoever. The article does not constitute investment advice. Please take all steps necessary to ascertain that any information and content provided is correct, updated and verified.