Crypto exchange Binance is planning an acquisition spree that will target companies operating in traditional markets, according to the Financial Times.
"We want to identify and invest in one or two targets in every economic sector and try to bring them into crypto," Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO, told the Financial Times during an interview.
"The strategy is about making the crypto industry bigger," he added.
Zhao's comments come hot on the heels of the exchange's mammoth $200 million investment in Forbes, making the crypto exchange one of the two largest owners of the publisher. This deal, in turn, came just over a year after Binance sued Forbes.
"With Binance's investment in Forbes, we now have the experience, network and resources of the world's leading crypto exchange and one of the world's most successful blockchain innovators," Forbes CEO Mike Ferdele said at the time.
In addition, Zhao's comments come shortly after Binance's most recent clash with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Binance and the FCA
Earlier this week, the FCA announced a $36 million loan from Bifinity—an entity within the wider Binance Group—to Eqonex Limited, the parent company of FCA-registered crypto asset business Digivault Limited.
As a result of this transaction, the FCA said, "individuals and entities that are part of the Binance Group may have become beneficial owners of Digivault for the purposes of the Money Laundering Regulations,"—the regulations the FCA oversees in connection to crypto asset businesses.
Last summer, the FCA told Decrypt it was concerned over the crypto exchange's apparent lack of a headquarters. In September, the regulator doubled down and said Binance Markets Limited, part of Binance Group, was not capable of being regulated—after it failed to provide basic information to the regulator.
This week, the FCA reiterated its concerns amid the Bifinity and Eqonex deal and said until outstanding issues raised by the FCA are addressed, the regulator's concerns about Binance Markets Limited remain.
"The FCA can take steps to suspend or cancel the registration of a crypto asset business if it is not satisfied the firm or its beneficial owner is fit and proper," the regulator added.