The banking industry could welcome a crypto billionaire as an owner with Binance founder Changpeng Zhao reportedly expressing interest in acquiring a lender.
Binance founder Changpeng «CZ» Zhao continues to make headlines this week, this time with the expressed interest in potentially acquiring a bank.
«There are people who hold certain types of local licenses, traditional banking, payment-service providers, even banks. We’re looking at those things,» Zhao said in a «Bloomberg» interview during the Lisbon-based Web Summit, though he did not name any targets.
Separately, Zhao said last month that the crypto exchange may spend over $1 billion on deals this year.
Equity Upside
In addition to the growing interlinkages between digital assets and traditional finance, Zhao said there was also an opportunity to capitalize on equity returns related to such activities.
«What we have found is when banks work with us, we drive so many users to them, so the bank’s valuation goes up exponentially, like why don’t we just invest in them as well, so that we capture some of the equity upside,» Zhao said, adding that the firm was open to minority investments or a full acquisition.
Founded in 2017, Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange with over $20 billion in trading volume over the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. Coinbase Exchange is a distant runner-up with around $3 billion in trading volume in the past day.
