Binance's CZ: Like It or Not, Facebook's Libra Coin Is Poised for Mass Adoption

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao hopes to open a London office "Very soon" as the crypto exchange turns its focus to Europe.

CZ calls crypto insurance a "Flawed concept." Binance instead dedicates 10 percent of its $100 million in quarterly revenues to its internal "SAFU fund."

The Malta-based company has been focused on Asia, but now plans are afoot to provide a deeper service within Europe, said Zhao, known throughout the crypto world as CZ. In an interview that touched on everything from Facebook's Libra project to Binance's insurance strategy, the charismatic executive said the idea of a London office was given a further shot in the arm by "Very positive" crypto regulations.

During last week's Binance meet-up in London, held at Canary Wharf's Level 39 fintech accelerator, CZ said of Brexit: "I don't think it will affect things here very much. The U.K. has a very old and very strong economy. And if anything, [Brexit] is likely to make people adopt crypto more, which is good for us."

By CoinMarketCap, Binance has not by any means been slouching in Europe.

Bear in mind CZ can be vague about the timing of events which are already well underway, such as Binance's first U.S. exchange operation, soon to be launched in conjunction with San Francisco-based BAM Trading, and headed up by former Ripple executive Catherine Coley.

Speaking to CoinDesk, CZ said Binance has not officially joined and explained his interest first and foremost is listing coins with lots of users.

SAFU. Like almost all other crypto exchanges, Binance insures itself against losses and hacks.

In May, Binance suffered a hack which netted 7,000 bitcoin, worth about $40 million at that time.

To eventually drain Binance's BTC hot wallet, containing around 2 percent of Binance's total bitcoin holdings.