CZ said that Binance books are healthy at the moment with good cash reserves and growth figures. Thus, he thinks that the company is better-off staying private and doesn’t see the need of going public.
A large number of companies from the crypto space are looking to go public ahead this year. However, amid all the buzz, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has recently confirmed that it won’t be going public anytime soon.
During his interview with CoinDesk on Thursday, March 10, the CEO said that Binance is comfortable with its status as a private company without going public. The CEO further added that the company is comfortable with its cash reserves and growth figures.
“We’re not really short on funds. We’re surviving OK and we’re growing very healthily and organically so we don’t have any plans for an IPO,” he said.
Binance’s own competitor Coinbase is fast approaching towards in own public offering. The crypto trading giant is planning to list its shares on Nasdaq with its current estimated valuations soaring to a whopping $90 billion. Considering its total number of outstanding shares, each Coinbase share will have a price value of $350.
Coinbase has registered massive growth over the last year itself as investor participation in the crypto space increased manifold times. Just to give an idea, by the end of 2018 Coinbase valuations stood at around $10 billion. Thus, it has registered a phenomenal 10x growth in the last 28 months.
In the interview, CZ praised Coinbase for its swift moves to go public. He even went out saying that Coinbase’s $100 billion valuations are low as per him. Comparing it with Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs’ $118 billion valuations, CZ added: “I think [Coinbase] should be valued much higher to be very frank”.
However, Coinbase has criticized Binance as a fly-back operation running under the regulatory radar. Commenting on it, CZ said that “I actually believe we have the strongest KYC (know your customer), AML (anti-money laundering) and geofencing technologies in place”.
Former US Senator Max Baucus Joins Binance
Crypto exchange Binance is really working on solidifying its regulatory matters. In a recent move, Binance has hired the former US Senator from Montana – Max Baucus – to serve as an advisor offering high-level guidance in regulatory matters.
The 79-year-old Democrat will bring along his “a wealth of political and regulatory expertise”. Apart from America, Baucus also has experience dealing with international matters. Between 2014 to 2017, he served as a US ambassador to China. Thus, he will “play a key role consulting and liaising with US regulators and authorities” for policies affecting and impacting the crypto space. binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said:
“His experience at the highest levels of government and intimate understanding of global regulation brings exceptional value to Binance and enhances our already strong compliance and policy team”.
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