Binance made a $200 million “strategic investment” in Forbes last month. CEO Mike Federle said the arrangement would help Forbes establish itself as a “genuine leader” in digital asset media. Binance’s ambitions aren’t limited to the media. Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, stated that he is interested in “one or two objectives in every economic area,” including retail, e-commerce, and gaming.
Rather than forming a multi-industry conglomerate, CZ stated that this plan is about bringing other businesses into crypto. Binance’s cryptocurrency strategy has always been to create a blockchain ecosystem. This latest tactic appears to be accomplishing the same thing, but on a larger, cross-industry basis. Despite announcing plans to grow into non-crypto industries, Binance is still under regulatory scrutiny. Regulators from all over the world issued notices against the exchange last year, in what appeared to be a concerted effort. They were concerned about things like insufficient money laundering checks and the lack of a physical site.
As a result, Binance has made significant changes, including limiting futures leverage to x20, requiring compulsory KYC, searching for regional offices, and a push to satisfy regulatory standards. Regardless of the modifications made, Binance’s regulatory stance remains shaky. The Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom highlighted concerns this week about cooperation between Binance subsidiary Bifinity and EQONEX, stating that Binance’s operations in the United Kingdom are prohibited.
Binance, which only began operations in 2017, has surged up the ranks to become the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The secret to its early success was probably its aggressive listing policy, which gave users access to the tokens they desired.
