Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ,” revealed that the United States branch of worldwide crypto exchange Binance.US is expected to complete a funding round to raise a “couple hundred million.”
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, CZ claimed that he was unaware of the precise amount. However, the official confirmation of the financing round may come in “about a month or two.”
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As reported by Cointelegraph, regulatory worries surrounding Binance.US ultimately resulted in investors backing out of a $100-million funding round. Brian Brooks, the former CEO of Binance.US, had initially chased potential investors, including Ray Lane from venture capital firm GreatPoint and a senior executive at Japanese holding company SoftBank, under the pretext that Binance.US would follow all United States regulatory standards.
However, the investors backed out due to fears surrounding CZ’s 90% ownership stake in the exchange and concerns over an investigation from U.S. authorities into money laundering and tax issues, prompting Brooks to resign.
Despite the difficulties, CZ is still confident that Binance.US will be able to attract the capital it needs and go public. He said earlier this year that “top-level” investors were still interested and that Binance.US itself planned to carry out an initial public offering soon, especially after rival Coinbase debuted on Nasdaq. He is not even ruling out Binance itself going public in the future.
“From an IPO perspective, it’s probably best to have a few rounds of financing before that.”
Related: Binance opens layer-two ETH deposits with Arbitrum One integration
During the most recent interview, CZ acknowledged that he serves only as chairman of the Binance.US board and is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the exchange.
The news has arrived as the cryptocurrency and blockchain business sectors are exploding, with new investors flocking to get in. Several crypto-related companies have gone public in the previous year, many of which have shown significant growth. Following a $4 billion special purpose acquisition company merger, mining firm BitDeer plans to go public on Nasdaq.
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