Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, is considering Ireland as part of its headquarters plans
Crypto trading giant Binance plans to set up several head offices in different regions, including Ireland, such as Reuters report. Several reports have surfaced suggesting that the company is already establishing a corporate presence in the Irish region and has registered several offshoots there.
While Binance (Ireland) Holdings has already been registered in the country for about a year, the company has registered three more companies in recent days. Binance APAC Holdings, Binance Services Holdings and Binance Technologies were all registered at different times in the last month.
Irish law firm Mason Hayes & Curran was brought in, with records showing Binance’s office as an accounting office in an undisclosed building in south Dublin. The documents also show that an official signature of CEO Changpeng Zhao was made between September 10th and 13th. The documents also show that Zhao is a resident of Malta and holds Canadian citizenship.
Binance is facing regulatory skirmishes around the world, and just recently, even crypto-friendly Singapore has called on the exchange through the Monetary Authority of Singapore to stop providing crypto trading services through its global platform Binance.com offer. The exchange confirmed the directives, although they do not affect Binance Singapore, a subsidiary of Binance Asia.
A Binance spokesman confirmed the report and said: “We are working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and other global regulators to meet the relevant regulatory standards and enable all necessary service changes.”
Binance has tried to turn the overwhelming regulatory tides around by evolving little by little to achieve compliance in different countries around the world. CEO Zhao had previously acknowledged that the company operates decentralized, even though it is a centralized exchange. This has made cooperation with the authorities more difficult, he explained.
In a previous interview with the South China Morning Post he confirmed that the exchange needed to establish a centralized operation with a clear board, risk control and defined investors.
The Central Bank of Ireland has warned citizens against investing in speculative digital assets such as cryptocurrencies. Back in May, the bank pointed out to users that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are a cause for great concern because of their volatile nature, which exposes them to the risk of losses. The bank’s governor, Gabriel Makhlouf, also warned of the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, including the lack of transparency, the use of cryptocurrencies in crime and the high energy consumption associated with crypto mining.