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Binance, the largest platform of cryptocurrencies of the world, hid for several years “substantial” links with Chinadespite assuring that it had closed its operations in the country, as revealed on Wednesday by Financial Times (FT) through internal company documents.
The firm’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, and other managers repeatedly ordered their employees to hide Binance’s China presence, including the existence of an office that was in use at least until the end of 2019, according to the newspaper.
Binance also covered that it continued to use the services of a Chinese bank to pay the salaries of some of its employees.
In 2017, in the face of the Beijing government’s clampdown on the cryptocurrency industry, Zhao stressed in an internal message that “people in China can directly say that our offices are not in China.”
Two years later, after information in the media that Binance had opened an office in the Asian country, a note to employees stressed: “Reminder: publicly, we have offices in Malta, Singapore, and Uganda. Please do not confirm offices in any other location, including China.”
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In a statement sent to the FT, the firm regrets that the newspaper uses “sources that go back to ancient history (in terms of the cryptocurrency market)” and ensures that its information “characterizes the facts in a dramatically incorrect way.”
This week, the US authorities that regulate the futures and options markets filed a lawsuit against Binance, considering that the company committed “numerous violations” of the country’s financial regulations.
