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Comment by joosters | Hacker News Reader

Have Binance decided to let anyone know where their headquarters are yet? Or is it still top secret?

It's always very surprising that people are willing to send large sums of money to a website without even having details of the company, address, etc. Crazy.

It’s not surprising at all if you want to trade in-and-out it only takes a few minutes. If they were in the business of stealing the money you send them word would get out pretty fast, so the risk is almost zero.

Storing your money with them on the other hand..

Or rather people are clueless or oblivious to what they are actually doing online.

If I put up a stall in the street with a large "Bank" noticeboard no-one would give me wads of cash. Yet online that's exactly what people do.

>so the risk is almost zero

This article, and countless other crypto stories, demonstrate that the risk is not zero. It's just that it may takes some time to manifest itself.

I think the real question is where their servers are.

I think the real question is where their money is.

I don't think they exchange/trade any fiat. In which case all their money is in Crypto, and resides on their servers and on cold wallets.

Bitfinex runs tether.

So bitfinex is going to do the mother of all rug pulls on everyone

That's easy to resolve with ping times.

Where are they headquartered is of interest to many people (for reporting on FBAR and/or taxes).

Aren’t they in AWS Japan?

AWS AP-NORTHEAST-1

> headquarters

What does it mean to "have a headquarter" in 2023?

A company is a legal entity with registration and address (even if that is not necessarily the address of their actual office).

At least in some jurisdictions it is actually mandatory to have this info on the company's website so that people can know who they are doing business with and also where to serve legal documents.

Any website that goes to some effort not to disclose anything has to raise a massive red flag.

I can only imagine that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have somehow given people the impression that laws and taxes are optional.

I mean, they are optional, if you are thief or criminal, but perhaps I've given the answer away.

The point I was trying to make is that a company's "headquarters" means nothing other than the place they're incorporated.

That "place of incorporation" is a very fluid thing, as it can be changed very quickly to adapt to changing regulations and optimize for rapid changes in the business ecosystem a company operates in.

And therefore: it doesn't mean much.

What really matters is:

    - the company's assets financial and non-financial and what jurisdiction has sway over them.

    - the people who control the company and what jurisdiction has sway over them

    - the company's customers and  what jurisdiction has sway over them

In 2023, the people controlling the company may be very mobile as CP has amply demonstrated, the assets can be very hard to control (damn near impossible if crypto, and still quite hard if cash and cash-like).

Where the headquarter actually is is IMO of precious little importance.

China.

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