Binance to Establish Global Headquarters in Ireland (Report)

The leading cryptocurrency exchange will reportedly set up headquarters in Ireland. The initiative comes following the total crypto ban in China and the regulatory issues, which the company had with numerous other watchdogs.

Ireland Sounds Like The Right Choice

The topic of Binance having headquarters has always been a sensitive one for the company. With some of the recent regulatory hurdles, though, the CEO – Changpeng Zhao – suggested on a few occasions that the firm will have to settle in one or more locations.

A coverage by The Irish Independent revealed that one of those places will be Ireland. Asked whether the country falls into such plans, Changpeng Zhao – CEO of Binance – answered: “Yes, it does,” without disclosing more about the initiative. However, he explained why his company would part with its decentralized principles:

“When we first started, we wanted to embrace the decentralized principles, no headquarters, work all around the world, no borders. It’s very clear now to run a centralized exchange, you need a centralized, legal entity structure behind it.”

In late September, the trading venue set up three companies in Ireland: Binance (APAC) Holdings, Binance (Services) Holdings, and Binance Technologies. Now, it established a fourth one, named Binance Exchange (Ie).

Ireland has been a preferred location for several institutions that provide cryptocurrency services. In May this year, BNY Mellon – America’s oldest bank – set up a new digital asset unit in Dublin called “Digital Innovation Hub.” It acts as a custodian for cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

A few months later, PayPal also assembled a crypto team in Ireland, explaining that locals have been showing a growing interest in bitcoin and the altcoins.

Binance And Its Issues with Regulators

Founded in China in 2017, the digital asset platform had to move outside its homeland during the same year following the hostile crypto stance coming from the government.

Throughout the recent months, Binance has received regulatory backlashes from different watchdogs across the globe, such as the UK’s FCA. In June, the agency stated that the exchange poses a “significant risk” and cannot be supervised effectively.

Shortly after, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa issued a warning that Binance does not have the necessary registration to offer brokerage services or give investment recommendations in the country.

Attempting to resolve these issues, in September, Zhao vowed to change the structure of his firm and turn it into a licensed financial institution with centralized headquarters. A few days ago, he reiterated his stance, saying:

“We want regulation, I am not a complete libertarian, I’m not an anarchist.”