After a year of massive regulatory hurdles and scrutiny from major regulators globally, Binance, the global largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, could be hunting for its headquarters in France.
Moving towards global crypto dominance, last week it was licensed and approved to offer cryptocurrency-related assets in Canada and Bahrain. It will also serve as a Money Service Business (MSB) in Canada while providing money transfer services and foreign exchange.
New global headquarters
Binance has committed to finance a $ 113 million investment in collaboration with France Fintech in a bid to bolster the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector in the French Republic.
It is expected that the giant crypto exchange will establish a research and development center to support startups and training programs.
Known as ‘The Objective Moon,’ this initiative was announced in early November and is aimed to develop a crypto ecosystem through education and innovation.
Binance’s France General Manager, David Princay, said that having a research and development center is a step they are looking for in the next evolution.
In an effort to make Europe and France principal global crypto players, Binance has been soliciting French talent to grow the industry.
Given the growing fintech industry in France and forward-looking crypto regulations, the country is seen to be an ideal zone for huge investments.
Ledger, a French crypto hardware firm worth $1.5 billion, and edtech company OpenClassrooms are also involved in the Objective Moon initiative to develop educational programs.
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According to Dealroom, Fintech investments have already increased to almost €2bn this year.
These figures prove France is fertile ground for the planned initiative. The Fintech firms have received huge funding rounds for Qonto and Lydia.
Global regulation scrutiny
Following a turbulent year that’s had shaky relationships with regulators globally, Binance could be pinning down France to be its global headquarters.
Among its pain points were investigations by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, shutting down trading platforms in Singapore, and a ban by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority.
The exchange platform also stopped trading its digital stock tokens.
The recent steps taken by Binance have been received with caution, with the France Central Bank’s governor saying that the exchange must have robust anti-money laundering monitoring in place before setting up its operations in the country.
Though Princay did not comment on the possibility of establishing formal headquarters in France, he said that the exchange platform is prepared to undergo scrutiny, evaluation, and auditing, to gain the regulators’ confidence and show compliance.
He further stated that they are having discussions about licensing and are hoping France’s digital minister, Cedric O, will support them.
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