The Bitcoin exchange Binance is getting more and more problems. Now the financial supervisory authority of the Cayman Islands has also spoken out. Meanwhile, myths are growing around the actual headquarters of the company.
Things are getting tighter for the Bitcoin exchange Binance. Most recently, the authorities in Great Britain, Japan and Canada declared the regulatory battle. Now problems are looming in the country of the presumed company headquarters, the Cayman Islands, part of the Commonwealth. The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) announced that Binance is not licensed by the regulator to conduct crypto trading within the islands. This goes out one on Friday published announcement the CIMA.
CIMA is currently investigating whether Binance […] engages in any activity in the Cayman Islands that may come under the regulatory oversight of the agency
, it says in the message. An allegation of possible misconduct is not mentioned. The CIMA added that any crypto company based in the Territory must be registered, licensed, or exempted under the VASPA in accordance with the Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Act, 2020 (“VASPA”). According to local reports, the registration phase for the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) ran until January 31 of this year. In the second phase of the enforcement of the law, starting in June, “licensing and regulatory supervision” should come into force.
Binance headquarters is an occasion for speculation
The British overseas territory of the Cayman Islands is known as one of the largest tax havens in the world. According to of a current report by PwC, it is the most popular location for cryptocurrency hedge funds (along with the US). Last year, several media reports claimed that Binance is headquartered in the Cayman Islands. However, CEO Changpeng Zhao “CZ” was always silent when it came to revealing where Binance is actually based. Instead, he simply claimed that it has no headquarters at all:
Offices and headquarters are old concepts like SMS and MMS. Time moves on …
, so CZ in a tweet. Before that, there was a long suspicion that Malta, also known as a tax haven, could be the headquarters of Binance. But that came about after a message the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) doubts. The company also has a branch in the Cayman Islands:
Binance.com has always operated in a decentralized manner. Binance.com does not operate a cryptocurrency exchange out of the Cayman Islands, as previously falsely reported in some media articles
a Binance spokesman said loudly The block. Regardless of where the company is actually based, regulators seem to be on the heels of the crypto exchange around the world.