Crypto exchange Binance, with the world's largest daily crypto trading volumes of $8.5 billion, was revealed to have maintained secret ties with China for years.
A recent Financial Times report has revealed that Binance's top leadership went to great lengths to keep its relationship with China a secret. This was after the company claimed for years that it had left the country following the 2017 crypto crackdown.
According to the report, Binance allegedly maintained an active office in China until at least 2019. Additionally, they held ties with a Chinese bank that processed employee salaries.
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In one group message, Binance CEO Chnagpeng "CZ" Zhao allegedly said the company no longer publishes its office addresses.
We no longer publish our office addresses <...> people in China can directly say that our office is not in China.
In the past, CZ said the majority of the Binance workforce left China. According to Zhao, only a small customer service team operated in the country.
It is believed that in late 2019, the company reportedly instructed employees to state that Binance offices were only in Singapore, Malta, and Uganda. The news allegedly came after reports emerged that it planned to open an office in Beijing.
When asked about the Financial Times report, Binance's spokesperson noted:
It is unfortunate that anonymous sources are citing ancient history (in crypto terms) and dramatically mischaracterizing events. This is not an accurate picture of Binance's operations.
CZ has publicly denied that Binance is a Chinese company. In November 2022, he tweeted, "Binance is not a Chinese company."
This week, the crypto industry was shaken after the news broke that Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance. The lawsuit claims that Binance illegally offered its services to customers in the United States.
Following the announcement about the CFTC lawsuit, Binance CEO issued a blog post denying allegations that the cryptocurrency exchange manipulated the market or traded for profit.
