Richard Teng, the newly appointed CEO of Binance, revealed during a discussion at the Paris Blockchain Week that Binance is considering several jurisdictions for its headquarters. The focus will be on product portfolio, regulatory compliance, and taxation, and negotiations will take place with various countries.
Richard Teng stated during the Paris Blockchain Week Summit from April 9th to 11th that discussions are ongoing with several jurisdictions regarding the choice of headquarters, but no decision has been made yet. He emphasized that selecting a country is not a simple process and involves many considerations. Binance is currently in dialogue with multiple jurisdictions, and several are under consideration.
He further added, “The consideration behind corporate governance involves multiple factors, including which regions Binance’s products have greater value, which legal frameworks of jurisdictions can best meet our services and applications, and tax agreements involving operational costs.”
Binance has faced scrutiny from law enforcement agencies in various countries due to the lack of a headquarters. Former CEO Zhao Changpeng (CZ) often avoided discussing the headquarters issue until compromising publicly in 2022. To provide a complete structure for regulation, Binance will establish physical offices in different locations and obtain licenses, while many engineers and customer service representatives can continue to work remotely to meet both decentralized principles and regulatory requirements.
However, in a previous interview with the Financial Times, Richard Teng avoided the headquarters issue and refused to disclose the company’s location and related information, questioning the need to share such data publicly and why someone would believe they are entitled to those answers.
Richard Teng also emphasized the importance of collaboration between exchanges and regulatory agencies. He pointed out that regulations on cryptocurrencies vary among countries and even conflict with each other, which remains one of the main challenges facing the crypto industry. He stated that it will take a long time to see global consensus on standards.
Regarding the situation in Nigeria, where Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan was detained on suspicion of tax evasion, Richard Teng expressed seriousness and stated that Binance is actively working with the Nigerian government to negotiate and ensure his safe return to Binance.
According to local media reports, during yesterday’s court hearing, Gambaryan pleaded not guilty to all four money laundering charges and claimed that he was not responsible for Binance’s activities in Nigeria and had no decision-making authority over the company’s operations. However, this argument was rejected by Judge Emeka Nwite, who stated that Gambaryan had conducted business activities on behalf of Binance in Nigeria and therefore could be subject to legal proceedings. The bail hearing for this case has been postponed to April 18th.
Richard Teng
Cryptocurrency Regulation
Nigeria
Paris
Binance
Headquarters