Binance reportedly wants global wealth funds to get a stake in exchange

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is in talks with global sovereign wealth funds to sell them a stake in the company.

In addition to the "mega financing" planned for its Binance.US, a company based in the United States, Binance is now also seeking global funding to improve relations with regulators, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on a Tuesday interview with The Financial Times.

According to Zhao, the upcoming funding aims to improve his "perception of and relationships" with many governments, as several financial regulators around the world have done. cracking down on Binance this year.

"But it can also link us to specific countries, with which we want to be a little careful," said the CEO.

Since Binance is currently in the preliminary stages of discussions, it is still early to reveal the names of the wealth funds involved in raising capital, Zhao said. “The size of the ticket involved will not be small. It will not be a short process. "

Being the largest shareholder in Binance, Zhao is one of the richest men in the world in the cryptocurrency industry, with a total net worth estimated at $ 8 billion as of January 2021.

According to the CEO, Binance's daily transaction volumes arose up to $ 170 billion in November 2021 from just $ 10 billion to $ 30 billion two years ago. Binance.US, the US company that operates separately from the global exchange Binance, plans to raise a "couple hundred million dollars" by early 2022.

Global regulators have been increasingly scrutinizing the Binance exchange this year, with at least a dozen governments issuing warnings against the company, including countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Germany, and others.

Related: Binance continues to push to become a regulated crypto exchange with a new hire

Binance has taken a number of steps to improve its relationships with global regulators, stopping some of its services in certain countries and hiring high-profile executives from traditional finance.

Zhao reportedly said that he was not concerned about illegal activity on Binance's platform because the company was "probably better than banks" with regard to Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering policies and measures. money (AML).