Binance - Not a Chinese Company, Says CEO Changpeng Zhao

According to speculations from different quarters concerning the ownership control of Binance, CZ has decided to clear the air when he took to the Binance blog and demystify the relationship of the company with China, giving details of his personal and business history with the Republic of China, and why it is absolutely wrong to label Binance as Chinese-controlled company.

He asserted that, "Binance is not a Chinese company,' and that 'conspiracy theories of a Chinese employee secretly running the business are untrue."

The History Of CZ With China

CZ began by recounting his personal history with the China right from his tender age 12 when he and his family fled from the nation to Canada only two months after the events of June 4th 1989.

It normally took four years to get a passport, and it would have taken another 2-3 years to get a Canadian visa if we were lucky. But due to the incident, the Canadian embassy opened up and gave us visas quickly. I remember the line outside the Canadian embassy was three days long. We had to take shifts at night to keep our position in the queue.

He added:

“It changed my life forever and opened up endless possibilities for me,” he wrote.

In 2005 CZ moved back to China, and then he ventured into an 'exchange-as-a-service' business called Bijie Tech in 2015. But by March 2017 the Chinese government shut down all of such exchanges thereby forcing the business to end.

As if that is not enough, the government went further to imposed a similar unilateral ban on crypto exchanges operating in all China precisely on September 4th – beraly a month and a half after CZ and his team started Binance. This imposition of unilateral ban forced Binance to adopt a remote working model approach which altimately led to the company hiring workers from across the globe.

The Controversy of Guanying Chen

According to CZ, one of the employees working for him at his first company – Bijie Tech – was Guanying Chen, who is a Chinese national. CZ had her listed as the company’s legal representative at the time owing to the restrictive laws in China surrounding foreigners like himself – a Canadian citizen.

“Because her name is listed on the early Bijie Tech documents, Binance’s detractors have leaped at the opportunity to spread a conspiracy theory that Guangying was secretly the owner of Bijie Tech and possibly even Binance,” explained the executive.

Because of many insinuations that Binance is deeply connected to China due to its origins, there were suggestions that Binance may need to be banned in India like TikTok was, due to being “led by persons of Chinese origin.”

According to CZ, Chen was forced to leave China in 2017, even though many Chinese outlets still spread “conspiracy theories” about her, which certain tabloids pick up on from time to time. Today, Chen lives in a European country and oversees Binance’s admin and clearing team.

In conclusion, the CEO stated that Chen is not a “secret Chinese government agent,” and that Binance is not a Chinese company, despite attempts from its “opposition in the west” to paint it as such.