Macauley Peterson

<div id="highlights-block_61b72713fea8d" class="highlights">
        <ul>
                <li>Binance.sg will shut down on Feb. 13, as Binance Asia will refocus activities in the city-state on its recent investment in regulated exchange HGX</li>
                <li>Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, says the Binance Asia application for payment services licensing in Singapore was made “somewhat redundant”</li>
            </ul>
    
</div>



<p>The world’s largest digital asset exchange by volume, Binance, has been making moves to increase regulatory compliance for much of the past year. In June, Binance added a Singaporean subsidiary, Binance Pte, as it awaited licensing review from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/binance-continues-to-plant-seeds-for-singapore-move/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">previously reported</a>. The company now is shifting its focus to a MAS-regulated exchange in which Binance took an 18% stake last week.</p>



<p>According to <a href="https://binancesingapore.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4416402912525-Announcement-to-all-Binance-sg-users" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an announcement posted</a> to Binance.sg, the Singapore brand is slated to wind down early next year:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><strong>“Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd (BAS) intends to withdraw its licensing efforts in Singapore and wind down its digital payment token (“DPT”) services in Singapore by 13 February 2022.  The decision has not been made lightly, and we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.”</strong></p></blockquote>



<p>The announcement further states that Binance.sg has halted user registrations, KYC processes, and both crypto and fiat deposits. Trading will continue only through Jan. 12, 2022, after which users will have one month to withdraw their assets before all accounts will be closed.</p>



<p>Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, <a href="https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1470294674728689664" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">took to Twitter</a> Monday morning to clarify that the license application withdrawal was due Binance’s investment in Singaporean exchange, HGX.</p>



<p>“This investment made our own application somewhat redundant. We will continue to work through our partners to grow the crypto industry in Singapore,” he wrote.</p>



<p>Richard Teng, who was appointed CEO of BAS in June, was previously the <a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/private-exchange-hgx-begins-trading" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chairman at HGX</a> and spent 13 years at the Monetary Authority of Singapore <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-teng-3497b527/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">before that</a>.</p>



<p>“In Singapore, we continue to work closely with key government agencies to support the growth of the blockchain ecosystem and development of requisite local talent needed,” Mr Teng told <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/binance-acquires-18-stake-in-singapore-regulated-hg-exchange" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Straits Times</a>.</p>



<p>A Binance Asia spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.</p>



<p>Binance Coin (BNB) is trading about 3.4% lower since the announcement.</p>




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Binance Asia Will End Service in Singapore

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_619cb0d210858" class="highlights">
        <ul>
                <li>Binance has registered a fourth entity in Ireland, according to a corporate filing spotted by The Independent</li>
                <li>For some time it looked as if Binance would call Singapore home base, but relations have soured between the company and the Monetary Authority of Singapore</li>
            </ul>
    
</div>



<p>It looks as if Ireland will be the new home for Binance. The exchange, which until recently was famously decentralized, has registered a new entity in Ireland — first spotted by <a href="https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/cryptocurrency-exchange-binance-steps-up-plans-for-hq-in-ireland-41079314.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Independent</a>. </p>



<p>Binance Exchange (Ie), the new entity, is believed to be poised to serve as the corporate “mothership” and not a technology licensing holding company or a regional subsidiary.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/binance-ceo-says-ireland-is-part-its-hq-plans-2021-10-07/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview with Retuers in October</a>, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said that the company was considering Ireland as a headquarters, along with France, according to an interview with French newspaper <a href="https://www.lesechos.fr/finance-marches/marches-financiers/binance-le-patron-de-la-plus-grande-plateforme-de-cryptos-mondiale-explique-sa-strategie-aux-echos-1362803" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Les Echos</a>, and another unnamed European city. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><strong>&#8220;When we first started we wanted to embrace the decentralized principles, no headquarters, work all around the world, no borders,&#8221; he said to Reuters. &#8220;It&#8217;s very clear now, to run a centralized exchange, you need a centralized, legal entity structure behind it.&#8221;</strong></p></blockquote>



<h3><strong>Why not Singapore?</strong></h3>



<p>As Binance began its existence in Asia, it was thought that it would try to maintain its headquarters there. Given <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/hong-kong-and-singapore-take-different-approaches-to-regulating-digital-assets/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Singapore’s crypto-friendly</a> nature, the city-state would be a logical choice to host the exchange’s headquarters. In August, it announced that it had hired Singapore Exchange executive Richard Teng as CEO of Binance Asia Services Pte, a company it registered in Singapore in 2018.</p>



<p>“Singapore is widely considered to be the blue-chip destination for financial and regulatory security and oversight,” Michael Conn, CEO of Singapore-based Zilliqa Capital, told Blockworks in an earlier interview. “Setting up their business in Singapore will make it much easier for Binance to pursue a traditional equity raise, since Singapore is not seen as a tax haven or a place for shady dealings.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>However, Binance poisoned the well in early September by running afoul of the Monetary Authority of Singapore which alleged the exchange — a different entity entirely from its Binance.sg subsidiary —&nbsp; was in violation of the Payment Services Act for carrying on the business of providing payment services to, and soliciting such business from Singapore residents without an appropriate license.</p>



<h3><strong>First a headquarters, then a sovereign wealth fund</strong></h3>



<p>Zhao’s vision for Binance includes an IPO and investment from the world’s largest institutional investors. But for that to happen, there needs to be a headquarters, which is something he’s also admitted.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In a recent interview with the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/006b727a-cc20-403e-ad53-6a23571e6c1c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Financial Times</a>, Zhao has said Binance is in talks with sovereign wealth funds about investment in the exchange. </p>



<p>Speaking with the paper, Zhao said that investment from these funds would improve the exchange’s “perception and relationships” with various regulators around the world.</p>



<p>“But it may also tie us to specific countries&#8230;which we want to be slightly careful with,” he also said. <br>Binance’s BNB token appears to be unaffected by the news and, at time of publication, is up 0.2% on the day according to <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/binance-coin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinGecko</a>.</p>
