Binance CEO Changpeng âCZâ Zhao really doesnât want to tell you where his firmâs headquarters is located.
To kick off ConsenSysâ Ethereal Summit on Thursday, Unchained Podcast host Laura Shin held a cozy fireside chat with Zhao who, to mark the occasion, was wearing a personalized football shirt emblazoned with the Binance brand.
Scheduled for 45 minutes, Zhao spent most of it explaining how libra and Chinaâs digital yuan were unlikely to be competitors to existing stablecoin providers; how Binanceâs smart chain wouldnât tread on Ethereumâs toes â âthat depends on the definition of competing,â he said â and how Binance had an incentive to keep its newly acquired CoinMarketCap independent from the exchange.
There were only five minutes left on the clock. Zhao was looking confident; he had just batted away a thorny question about an ongoing lawsuit. It was looking like the home stretch.
Then it hit. Shin asked the one question Zhao really didnât want to have to answer, but many want to know: Where is Binanceâs headquarters?
This seemingly simple question is actually more complex. Until February, Binance was considered to be based in Malta. That changed when the island European nation announced that, no, Binance is not under its jurisdiction. Since then Binance has not said just where, exactly, it is now headquartered.
Little wonder that when asked Zhao reddened; he stammered. He looked off-camera, possibly to an aide. âWell, I think what this is is the beauty of the blockchain, right, so you donât have to ⦠like whereâs the Bitcoin office, because Bitcoin doesnât have an office,â he said.
The line trailed off, then inspiration hit. âWhat kind of horse is a car?â Zhao asked. Binance has loads of offices, he continued, with staff in 50 countries. It was a new type of organization that doesnât need registered bank accounts and postal addresses.
âWherever I sit, is going to be the Binance office. Wherever I need somebody, is going to be the Binance office,â he said.
See also: Binance Is Not Under Our Jurisdiction, Says Malta Regulator
Zhao may have been hoping the host would move onto something easier. But Shin wasnât finished: âBut even to do things like to handle, you know, taxes for your employees, like, I think you need a registered business entity, so like why are you obfuscating it, why not just be open about it like, you know, the headquarters is registered in this place, why not just say that?â
Zhao glanced away again, possibly at the person behind the camera. Their program had less than two minutes remaining. âItâs not that we donât want to admit it, itâs not that we want to obfuscate it or we want to kind of hide it. Weâre not hiding, weâre in the open,â he said.
Shin interjected: âWhat are you saying that youâre already some kind of DAO [decentralized autonomous organization]? I mean what are you saying? Because itâs not the old way [having a headquarters], itâs actually the current way ⦠I actually donât know what you are or what youâre claiming to be.â
Zhao said Binance isnât a traditional company, more a large team of people âthat works together for a common goal.â He added: âTo be honest, if we classified as a DAO, then thereâs going to be a lot of debate about why weâre not a DAO. So I donât want to go there, either.â
âI mean nobody would call you guys a DAO,â Shin said, likely disappointed that this wasnât the interview where Zhao made his big reveal.
See also: Binance CEO Says Crypto Exchange Has Applied for a Singapore License
Time was up. For an easy question to close, Shin asked where Zhao was working from during the coronavirus pandemic.
âIâm in Asia,â Zhao said. The blank white wall behind him didnât provide any clues about where in Asia he might be. Shin asked if he could say which country â after all, itâs the Earthâs largest continent.
âI prefer not to disclose that. I think thatâs my own privacy,â he cut in, ending the interview.