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One of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, Binance, has begun discussions with “several” sovereign wealth funds about selling a stake in the company, The Financial Times reported on 23 November.
The information was obtained by the publication during an interview with the CEO of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who declined to name the funds that are participating in the talks. Zhao, however, stated that the funding was a way to improve the company’s “perception and relationships” with foreign regulators who have been cracking down on Binance since the start of the year.
The deal is currently at the preliminary stages of discussions, which could take a significant amount of time as the “ticket size involved will not be small”. The CEO also noted that the company needs to be careful during the negotiations, since once sovereign wealth funds take a stake in the company, it could tie Binance to “specific countries”.
Since the start of the year, Binance has received at least a dozen warnings from regulators around the world, forcing it to halt a number of its services in some countries. The exchange has not only shut down derivatives trading in Hong Kong and Europe, but also ended its SGD offerings in Singapore. In order to mend some of its relationships, Binance expanded its global Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements back in August.
The current funding talks are not the only investment Binance is expecting. Earlier this month, Zhao revealed that the U.S. branch of the exchange was expected to completed a major funding round, and while he was unaware of the precise amount, it could be in the range of a “couple hundred million”.