Binance does the same but even more extreme — they don’t even tell where their HQ is actually located.
Money launderers and tax evaders have long used these tricks. Those people don’t normally get VC capital at $34 billion valuations though. The crypto implosion ought to be a massive lesson to the industry.
What are the liabilities and who are they to?
If you don't send any of those coins out, there are no profits for the exchange operator, either. Look at how Coinbase does everything more-or-less by the book, and barely makes money. Trading fees just don't cut it.
Yet, some fly-by-night exchange incorporated in the Bahamas is offering wild signup bonuses and lower fees and yield that would make Scrooge McDuck blush.
it looks like the usual nonsense of "here's some bank account balances", with no explanation of what liabilities they hold, or how much related party loan crime they have on their books.
Binance’s US subsidiary is just as safe as FTX.US was, despite their claims otherwise. It will fall along with the other dominos.