Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has responded to critics and conspiracy theorists who assert that Binance is a “criminal enterprise” rooted in China and “secretively belongs in the clutches of the Chinese government.”
CZ’s reaction to criticism was published in a blog post through Binance on Thursday. It arises from a Twitter argument with a former writer from the Washington Post, who questioned him by asking, “While I have you here, who’s Guangying Chen?”
History of Binance
In terms of the total trading volume of cryptocurrencies daily, the cryptocurrency exchange known as Binance is now the biggest such exchange on the whole globe. It was established in 2017 and has its headquarters in the Cayman Islands, where it is also registered.
Changpeng Zhao, a programmer who had formerly invented high-frequency trading software, is the one who first conceptualized and launched Binance. Binance’s headquarters were originally located in China, however, they were subsequently relocated outside of the country in response to the Chinese government’s increased oversight of cryptocurrency activities.
In 2021, the United States Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service opened an investigation against the cryptocurrency exchange Binance based on suspicions of money laundering and tax violations respectively. Binance was given an order by the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom to cease any regulated business in the United Kingdom by the month of June 2021.
How did the conspiracy start?
The conspiracy theorist added that the query is in regard to a conspiracy theory that asserts that his close buddy and fellow Chinese citizen Guangying Chen is the hidden owner of Bijie Tech (a firm which he established in 2015) and potentially also Binance.
However, CZ clarifies that Chen is a coworker of his that he met via a friend and that he employed her to “manage the back office” at Bijie Tech before actually hiring her once again at Binance. He adds that conspiracy theorists subsequently associated her as a covert owner of the businesses given that she was one of the few to have originally stayed in China.
Some websites, such as Scam Binance, assert that Chen at one point controlled 93% of the shares in both Bijie Tech and Binance. This is only one of the allegations made by these websites. According to CZ, the root of such claims was an “old campaign that a rival ran through an anonymous website.”
Because of this, she and her family have been the focus of attention and harassment from members of the media as well as internet trolls. VZ asserts that he would not have urged her to carry out what appeared like such a harmless move at the time if he had been aware of how much of a detrimental effect this would have on her life. He claims that he would have avoided doing so.
Relationships with China
CZ went as far as detailing some of his difficult personal and business-related encounters with Chinese officials, and he vehemently refuted the assertions that his firm had close relations with China and its government. CZ also forcefully disputed the claims that his company has close links to China.
According to CZ’s claims, the fact that few Binance employees, including himself are of Chinese ethnicity make the industry a very obvious target for hate. As a result, media, special traders, as well as policymakers, do not approve of the Binance blockchain.
Even though Binance has never been formally established in China and has never operated culturally like a Chinese firm, tales about Chinese infiltration continue to circulate, according to CZ.
CZ noted that Binance has operations in several countries, including France, Spain, Italy, UAE, and Bahrain, and that the company has established a team throughout the world. CZ also added that “we are aggressive in seeking great talent, no matter where they originate from:”
Final Thoughts
Binance was officially established as a company in the Cayman Islands in 2017, however the company does not yet have a designated headquarters. The blockchain was the biggest centralized cryptocurrency exchange in the world as of October 2021, having amassed an estimated 28.6 million cryptocurrency users at that time. A former official at Binance said that the firm is valued at more than 300 million dollars in November of 2021.
