Binance Looks to Sovereign Wealth Funds For Investment
The exchange says the move will help improve its “perception and relationships” with various national governments.
Key Takeaways
- Binance is in investment talks with several sovereign wealth funds.
- CEO Changpeng Zhao is hoping the move will help improve the exchanges "perception and relationships" with national governments.
- Following the announcement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk called out Zhao on Twitter over Binance's recent issues with Dogecoin withdrawals.
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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has revealed the exchange is in talks with several sovereign wealth funds over potential large-scale investments.
Binance Seeks Sovereign Investments
Several sovereign wealth funds may soon have a stake in the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder and CEO of Binance, revealed in an interview with the Financial Times Tuesday that his company is seeking large-scale investment from sovereign wealth funds.
“The ticket size involved will not be small… it won’t be a short process,” said Zhao, adding that he believes investment from sovereign wealth funds would help improve Binance’s “perception and relationships” with various national governments.
Binance has faced regulatory scrutiny throughout the year, resulting in the exchange dropping some of its most popular features. Over the past months, Binance has cut derivatives trading in several countries, including most of Europe, Australia and South Africa. In July, the Securities Commission of Malaysia ordered Binance to disable its website, accusing the exchange of operating illegally in the country.
By soliciting sovereign wealth funds for investment, Binance is hoping to improve its relations with nation states as the company works towards “proactive compliance” with regulators. Last week, the exchange launched a crypto rights campaign in the Financial Times, lauding the benefits of crypto regulation while signaling its willingness to work cooperatively with national regulators.
However, the excitement surrounding Binance’s sovereign investment news was dampened when Tesla CEO and Dogecoin fan Elon Musk publicly called out Zhao on Twitter over the exchange’s recent issues with Dogecoin withdrawals.
On Nov. 10, Binance users found they were unable to withdraw Dogecoin from their wallets, with some users being asked to return coins that they didn’t have. Binance said in a statement that the issue was due to a recent DOGE network upgrade and that withdrawals would be suspended for the next 10 to 14 days.
In response to Musk’s accusations, Zhao affirmed that the issues with Dogecoin withdrawals were not caused by Binance, and were instead due to an issue with the latest Dogecoin wallet. Zhao also cheekily pointed out a recent software glitch in Tesla’s cars that resulted in a safety recall for nearly 12,000 U.S. vehicles.
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