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Binance Moves To Malta As Prime Minister Issues Public Welcome

Wilma Woo | Mar 23, 2018 | 06:15

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The Prime Minister of Malta has publicly welcomed the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance as it announces it is relocating to the country.

Maltese PM To Binance: ‘Welcome To Malta’

In a fresh move confirmed by CEO Zhao Changpeng March 23, Binance will set up an office in the European nation and will close the requisite banking partnerships “soon,” Bloomberg reports.

Binance has continued its astronomical rise which saw it overtake all other global exchanges’ volumes in January.

This week, negotiations between the exchange and Japanese regulators moved the price of Bitcoin after local press sources misinterpreted the “dialog” as a de facto ban.

Discussing the Malta move, however, government leader Joseph Muscat was open about his bullish stance on the company.

“We aim to be the global trailblazers in the regulation of blockchain-based businesses and the jurisdiction of quality and choice for world class fintech companies,” he tweeted.

Zhao replied that he was “honored” to receive the vote of confidence.

Honored, sir! Part of my original quote to Bloomberg that was left out of the article. "Malta is very progressive when it comes to crypto and fintech. We think it is a good place for other crypto businesses to look into as well." https://t.co/cBZJnEgUGk

— CZ (not giving crypto away) (@cz_binance) March 23, 2018

Binance Influencing Maltese Regulation?

Speaking to Bloomberg, Zhao continued that Malta represented the ideal technological and regulatory environment to support Binance going forward.

“We are very confident we can announce a banking partnership there soon,” he said.

Malta is very progressive when it comes to crypto and fintech.

Zhao added Maltese lawmakers had sought him out with a view to informing Malta’s regulatory future.

According to Bloomberg, he “had recently been invited by the Maltese government to review an upcoming bill that was favorable to crypto businesses.”

A knock-on effect of the relocation is the European Union gaining its best-known cryptocurrency business to date, these previously being largely confined to Asia and the US.

Eastern European countries continue to host other popular exchanges including Bitstamp, while Japanese operator BitFlyer announced its move into the market in January.

What do you think about Binance moving to Malta? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter