The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance has concealed its business and an office in China, despite claiming to have left the country following Beijing’s regulatory clampdown in 2017, according to internal documents cited by Financial Times.
China banned crypto exchange from providing services in the country in 2017 and outlawed crypto trading and mining in 2021; however, some executives, including Changpeng Zhao, have reportedly directed subordinates to conceal their presence in the country. The report also said that the company disbursed employee salaries through a Chinese bank until the end of 2019.
In response, a Binance spokesperson said in a statement:
“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.”
“Binance does not operate in China nor do we have any technology, including servers or data, based in China. We strongly reject assertions to the contrary”.
The spokesperson also revealed that Binance has only a customer service call center in China to service global Mandarin speakers; those employees who wished to remain with the company were offered relocation assistance starting in 2021. Changpeng Zhao also affirmed they are always transparent in blockchain operations and transactions.
Back in September 2022, Changpeng Zhao also had a response to the accusation that Binance was a Chinese company and an insider of this country’s government.
The link between Binance and China was once stirred up again after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance for violating US regulations. Following the lawsuit, more than $2.2 billion in crypto has flowed out of the exchange in the past 45 hours, according to The Block Research.