Market-moving reports that Binance’s Shanghai office has been raided and shut down by local authorities are false, Binance tells Nugget’s News; the most recent of a series of attempts by rivals to damage the reputation of the world-leading cryptocurrency exchange operator.

When queried by Nugget’s News about today’s reports of the raids and closure of its Shanghai office, Binance chief financial officer Wei Zhou said, “our competitors have been using the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on frauds on local Chinese exchanges to spread FUD on Binance.”

“It is really sad to see The Block fall for such false rumours without even confirming any details with anyone from Binance. I have a lot of respect for them.”

No office. No raid. No letter. – Zhou

Citing unnamed local sources, The Block—a leading, widely respected source of cryptocurrency news and research—reported that local authorities had raided and shut down Binance’s Shanghai office.

In the hours following the reports, the U.S. dollar-denominated price of bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin (BNB) fell roughly five per cent.

————

Update (12:15pm AEDT—Nov. 22, 2019): Upon landing from his flight from Turkey, Binance co-founder and chief executive Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao also denied the reports, tweeting: “No police, no raid, no office.”

In a later tweet, he clarified that “Binance hasn’t had an office in Shanghai for more than two years.”

Noteworthily, The Block reaffirmed that it “stands by [its] sources and reporting that Binance’s Shanghai office was shut down.” The New York-headquartered cryptocurrency news publication also removed the paywall that was previously attached to its coverage of Binance’s purported office closure. Click here for The Block’s article.

————

Binance’s clarifying comments were shared with Nugget’s Crypto Community (NCC) members hours before press time. Read more about the NCC here.