Binance may move to Dubai as part of crypto deal

Binance,  the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange,  is expected to sign a deal with Dubai’s government on crypto-related activities after its CEO Changpeng Zhao said the company was moving its business from Seychelles to the UAE, informed sources told TRENDS.

In its exclusive report on October 12, 2021, TRENDS had reported that Binance might shift its headquarters to Dubai from Seychelles.

Dubai is competing with Singapore, Switzerland, and other countries to become a worldwide hub for digital currency by developing a cryptocurrency free-trade zone. It also plans to publish a regulatory framework for Bitcoin trading.

The agreement with Binance will regulate the offering, issuance, listing, and trading of encrypted assets and related financial operations in the Dubai World Trade Center Authority’s free zone. 

“We are evaluating several venues to meet user needs, regulatory regulations, and of course a location that matches our objectives as a company,” a company spokeswoman told TRENDS.

Notably, Zhao bought his first property in Dubai he calls “extremely pro-cryptocurrency” and “a perfect business environment.” 

Zhao recently met with the Dubai Blockchain Center and the Dubai Police’s Virtual Asset Crime Division.

Two months ago, Omar Rahim, former Binance Middle East and North Africa director, wrote a post on LinkedIn  stating that they had “a great discussion about the prospects, innovation, talent, and investments Binance can offer to the UAE.”

Binance Singapore has withdrawn its application for a crypto authorization by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and will close its operations in the country in a few months. As a result, registrations, crypto deposits, currencies, and trading on Binance.sg will be closed. Instead, users will buy and sell cryptocurrency using their existing assets until January 12, 2022, and all accounts must be completed by February 13.

Previous reports had talked about the possibility that Binance would withdraw its work application in Singapore after it had waited for months for approval. 

According to Richard Teng, CEO of Binance Singapore their “decision to shut down Binance.sg was not taken lightly.” 

Teng said that he was grateful to MAS for their continued support of Binance Asia Services and looked forward to future collaboration opportunities with the Singaporean government and the Binance Asia Services team. 

“Our immediate priority is to help our Singapore users transfer their holdings into other wallets or other third-party services,” he said.

Binance’s worldwide compliance staff and advisory board has grown by 500 percent in the last year, and they expect to triple their size by 2021, Zhao said. On the stock market, the company is worth nearly $1.3 billion.