Zhao Changpeng, CEO of Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange platform which became the world’s largest in only 180 days, recently decided to move operations to the central Mediterranean, specifically to Malta, after regulations were imposed on their former headquarters in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
The decision of the billionaire CEO responds to measures that the financial authorities from Hong Kong and later Tokyo decided to impose to the company.
Even though Binance serves as one of the most important exchange companies around the globe, they received in the past several warnings from Hong Kong and Tokyo, for operating the company without regulatory approval.
In conjunction with this, the company decided to leave the Asian market behind and move to the island of Malta, where they are planning to start from scratch and restart operations.
Regarding the renewed operations, Zhao has not given a lot of information yet, but he spoke to Bloomberg and told them that some deals are right on track with bank entities from Malta, to enable a cash-to-crypto exchange platform very soon.
Zhao stated that: ‘Malta is very progressive when it comes to crypto and Fintech.” and that there isn’t a better place for positioning a crypto exchange platform to give users new possibilities in the financial field.
The CEO has been in the spotlight often during the last months, first when he decided to move out of China at the moment that Beijing began imposing regulations on cryptocurrencies; later, after the well-executed but frustrated hacking attempt of which it was a target, after which he offered the incredible amount of $250,000 to catch the involved hackers, inviting other exchanges to do the same.
Similarly, now he is being followed by the press and social media and everyone is waiting expectantly to see what the future may look like for Malta and Binance.
Meanwhile, for the country, this seems to be a great opportunity since it has been struggling with the widespread financial perception of being a “free tax shelter”, as it is currently the country in the European Union with the lowest tax rates. Malta is now advertising itself as a Fintech and crypto-friendly place, and for sure that’s something Zhao is willing to explore.
In the same line, not only Zhao seems to be happy about what Malta has to offer; the prime minister of the country, Joseph Muscat, is excited to welcome the businessman, recently tweeting: “Welcome to #Malta @binance.”
Shortly after, Binance was trading at around $1.5 billion a day, a number to be pleased about, on the other hand, Malta’s Gross Domestic Product is at approximately $11 billion yearly. Could both entities obtain what they’re seeking for?
