It remains a rhetorical question to ask where Binance headquarters is located. Even the global exchange firm CEO did not provide a definite answer to the question when asked. Podcast host Laura Shin in a chat with Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO at ConsenSys’ Ethereal Summit on Thursday, asked the CEO where Binance headquarters is located.
The CEO did not look pleased with the question. However, he had to answer. Zhao responded, saying it is the beauty of blockchain. He likened the exchange firm to Bitcoin asking where the Bitcoin office is? Because Bitcoin does not have an office.
He said further that Binance has loads of offices with staff in 50 countries. He said the exchange firm is the new type of organization that does not need registered bank accounts and postal addresses. “Wherever I sit, is going to be the Binance office. Wherever I need somebody, is going to be the Binance office,” he said.
When probed further, Zhao said that the firm is not a traditional company, instead a large team of people working together for a common goal.
Binance headquarters saga, China, Japan, Malta
Binance exchange platform, no doubt, is one of the biggest and most populous crypto exchange firms globally. According to Wikipedia, the firm in 2018 was the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world in terms of trading volume.
However, it has not spared it from suffering certain regulation defeat in China or other places where it relocated to. Reportedly, the firm was founded in China, and Binance Headquarters was also located in China from the start, not until when it had to move its servers and head office out of the country to Japan because of the Chinese government ban on crypto trading. The ban saw other exchange firms move out of China too, like KuCoin, OkCoin, etc.
What happened to Binance in Japan?
The exchange firm, after having to move out of China, moved to Japan to continue operations. Things, however, started to go wrong in Japan on March 23rd when a letter was addressed to Zhao by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), warning the firm to cease activities in the country without a license.
In other words, the company was warned from operating without proper licensing with Japan’s regulatory agency. Reportedly, Zhao confirmed that the exchange had received the FSA’s letter and said that its lawyers are in contact with the FSA and “will find a solution.”
In other reports, Binance announced that it was going to open an office in Malta. However, it was based in Hong-kong when it made this revelation. Binance had plans of opening its first fiat-to-crypto currency trading pairs there, making it become one of the biggest exchange firms it is today.
Binance in Malta
Binance was accepted into Malta with open hands. Joseph Muscat, the country’s prime minister, then went ahead to Twitter to announce their welcome tweeting that they aim to be the global trailblazer in the regulation of blockchain businesses.
However, about two months ago, a flurry of reports started doling in claiming that the Malta Financial Service Authority (MFSA) never approved for the exchange firm to operate in the country. The authority released a statement to this effect outlining that media report referred to Binance incorrectly as Malta-based cryptocurrency firm. However, a mainstream local publication in Malta also referred to the exchange form as a Malta-based crypto firm.
Cayman Islands coming in the picture
Unverified report has it that Binance headquarters is in Cayman island and Seychelles. Reportedly, Financial times have also published this claim partly. In 2017, Binance registered Binance Holdings Limited in George Town, Cayman Islands. According to a corporate linkage document seen by Decrypt.
According to Decrypt, Binance later registered Binance Investments Company, in Mahe, Seychelles, in 2019.
