Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto infrastructure providers, is reportedly planning an M&A acquisition spree amid regulatory scrutiny. According to the Financial Times, the crypto exchange wants to diversify its portfolio by scooping up businesses that operate in traditional markets.
The manoeuvre comes in the wake of the recent investment made this year in the magazine publication Forbes. “We want to identify and invest in one or two targets in every economic sector and try to bring them into crypto,” Changpeng Zhao, the Chief Executive Officer of Binance, commented in an interview.
According to him, if a single company in an industry, such as media, embraces crypto, the competition will increase, and other incumbents will be forced to follow suit. Regulatory rebukes have been aimed at Binance’s core exchange business, which allows traders to make bets on digital coins at a frantic pace. Binance earns most of its revenue through trading fees, which fluctuate with Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency prices, Zhao said.
In addition to hiring compliance and enforcement experts, Zhao said that the company was using customer-checking software that would be used by banks. In the UK, the exchange now has 70 employees, many of whom are involved with regulatory matters.
The FCA had requested 'exhaustive disclosure' and hundreds of pages of documents related to anti-money laundering controls from Binance through a London-based affiliate, but it pulled that application last year.
Bifinity Launching
Recently, to enhance its presence in the global payment ecosystem, Binance officially launched Bifinity, the company’s fiat-to-crypto payments provider. Bifinity is a payments technology company that aims to connect businesses and users across the global crypto and blockchain sector.
Through the use of APIs, merchants will be able to facilitate crypto payments. According to Binance, Bifinity supports more than 50 digital currencies around the world. Additionally, it assists major payment methods, including Visa and Mastercard.
