Binance Concealed Ties To China For Years, Even After 2017 Crypto Crackdown, Report Finds (cointelegraph.com) 12
Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao and other senior executives have been for years concealing the crypto exchange ties with China, according to documents obtained by the Financial Times. CoinTelegraph reports: In a report on March 29, FT claims that Binance had substantial ties to China for several years, contrary to the company's claims that it left the country after a 2017 ban on crypto, including an office still in use by the end of 2019 and a Chinese bank used to pay employees. "We no longer publish our office addresses ... people in China can directly say that our office is not in China," Zhao reportedly said in a company message group in November 2017. Employees were told in 2018 that wages would be paid through a Shanghai-based bank. A year later, personnel on payroll in China were required to attend tax sessions in an office based in the country, according to FT. Based on the messages, Binance employees discussed a media report that claimed the company would open an office in Beijing in 2019. "Reminder: publicly, we have offices in Malta, Singapore, and Uganda. [...] Please do not confirm any offices anywhere else, including China."
The report backs up accusations made in a lawsuit filed on March 27 by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against the exchange, claiming that Binance obscured the location of its executive offices, as well as the "identities and locations of the entities operating the trading platform." According to the lawsuit, Zhao stated in an internal Binance memo that the policy was intended to "keep countries clean [of violations of law]" by "not landing .com anywhere. This is the main reason .com does not land anywhere."
The report backs up accusations made in a lawsuit filed on March 27 by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against the exchange, claiming that Binance obscured the location of its executive offices, as well as the "identities and locations of the entities operating the trading platform." According to the lawsuit, Zhao stated in an internal Binance memo that the policy was intended to "keep countries clean [of violations of law]" by "not landing .com anywhere. This is the main reason .com does not land anywhere."
Um. Is anyone (Score:5, Interesting)
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Allegations! (Score:2)
Chairman Zhao says not to look at the man behind the curtain... or else.
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Beyonce is a man?
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Not exactly new.. (Score:3)
This kind of stuff isn't new. Many years ago I did some work for an oil company who held assets in Libya during sanctions. These assets were all listed as "Western Sudan" on their databases because they didn't want anything about Libya becoming public. It was a bit of a standing joke among the people I was with that nobody wanted to be sent to audit Western Sudan.
That being said, Binance seem to have missed the obvious choice. If you don't want to be seen doing business in China you create a shell company in a suitably secretive Caribbean tax haven. This company then appoints an agent to handle your affairs in China. Having "Shh... don't tell," e-mails circulating isn't an effective way to keep anything secret.
Even Caroline had ties with China! (Score:3)
*evil dorky laugh!*
Crypto (Score:2)
Stickin' it to the over-regulating Man. (Score:2)
Heck yeah!