Disclaimer: This article was updated after Binance clarified that it was not affiliated with the company.
On June 19, a mail on the r/buttcoin subreddit he showed the so-called โutility closetโ that a company called Binance Ltd uses as its registered office in the UK
However, a spokesperson for the major cryptocurrency exchange told Cointelegraph that the registered organization is not a Binance entity.
The address in question is in the town of Mildenhall in the county of Suffolk, England. Google Maps shows the site to be a small, nondescript garage building on the outer edge of the city, about an hour and a half's drive from London, Britain's capital.
Companies House, the government company registrar, shows Binance Ltd shares the address with 2,403 active companies in total.
The address is actually the site of a company called OfficeServ, a virtual registered address service provider that aims to provide a "credible business location," according to its website.
Related: Binance Cancels Registration of Inactive UK Businesses
companies house shows Binance Ltd is registered to provide "other service activities not elsewhere classified".
While details about the "Binance Ltd" entity are still unclear, the UK Financial Conduct Authority has previously warned to the public about the existence of "clone" crypto companies. Clone companies are a type of scam in which scammers use information from legitimate companies in an attempt to convince targets that they are genuine.
Currently there are several entities with "Binance" in its name at various addresses in Great Britain.
Tech Firm Conspiracy Games
The use of "shell" virtual addresses by technology companies around the world and in the United States has been going on for years. These are used for a number of reasons, from providing privacy, obscuring patent applications, or registering a company in a corporate tax haven.
Most notable is the Corporation Trust Company, the world's largest registered agent services firm, used by thousands of companies, including well-known companies like Google, Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Apple. It operates out of an equally nondescript brick building in Delaware.
This completely nondescript building in Wilmington, Delaware is (probably) the most famous address in corporate law.
1209 North Orange Street.
It houses the Corporation Trust Center, the address of registered agent for some three hundred thousand companies. Including some giants. pic.twitter.com/HhdaUfKXCU
โLucius Winslow (@Lucius_Winslow) November 15, 2020
the signature was used by Apple last November in an attempt to obscure the patent filings for its recently announced Vision Pro Headphones and related operating system.
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Another firm, Wyoming Corporate Services, was described in a 2011 Reuters expose as a โbrick houseโ in a โsleepy townโ and home to 2,000 registered companies at the time.
Additional reporting by Blanche Gatt.
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