Changpeng Zhao considers France to be the most important European country for Binance

The head of the largest cryptocurrency exchange Changpeng Zhao called France one of the most developed countries in terms of cryptocurrency legislation and achieving the goals set by state regulatory authorities. The Binance CEO considers the country to be a «strategic center of the blockchain community» as France has a large talent pool of professional engineers and mathematicians.

According to Zhao, there are currently about 150 Binance employees in Paris, and the company plans to hire several hundred more in the future. The head of the cryptocurrency exchange claims that the French government and regulatory authorities clearly understand how they want to influence the crypto industry, establish KYC rules, and fight money laundering.

Currently, Binance’s largest office in Europe is located in France, where the cryptocurrency exchange manages most of the financial transactions in the eurozone. The company is currently promoting an initiative to train 10,000 people from low-income French families. «Regulators in France are very strict but fair at the same time. They keep pace with the times and have a clear idea of the end result of regulation,» Zhao said.

Jean-Noël Barrot, the French Minister for Digital Transition, said that the country’s government will focus on decentralized finance (DeFi), Web3, and other related areas of the cryptocurrency industry. That is why, in May 2022, the French Financial Markets Authority registered Binance as a provider of digital asset-related services.

Earlier, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao shared the platform’s plans: by the end of the year, Binance will spend more than $ 1 billion on investments and acquisitions of bankrupt projects. According to Zhao, the exchange has already allocated $ 325 million for 67 such cases this year. Binance also invested another $ 200 million in Forbes and gave $ 500 million to Elon Musk to buy Twitter. «In recent months, we have been approached by many lenders. Some of them just take the money and give it to someone else. There is no intrinsic value in this. What is there to buy then? We want to see real products that people will use ,» emphasized Changpeng Zhao.