Seasoned cryptocurrency analyst adds unexpected touch to portrait of largest CEX ecosystem
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It took one year for Binance’s crypto-to-fiat processing unit Bifinity, a Lithuanian-headquartered company, to jump into the top five country taxpayers. Bifinity UAB paid over $45 million in taxes excluding VAT in 2022.
Binance’s Bifinity is top Lithuanian taxpayer, researcher says
During the 2022 fiscal year, Binance’s affiliate Bifinity was the second largest corporate and fourth largest taxpayer overall. This data was published by pseudonymous blockchain researcher going by DeFi Ignas (@DefiIgnas on X) based on statistics of the national tax service.
Amid corporate taxpayers, it was only surpassed by Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics (also known as Fermentas), a well-known producer of restriction enzymes and DNA ladders and molecular weight markers. Also, Binance’s Bifinity is surpassed by two state-owned enterprises (in the table above, VĮ stays for “valstybės įmonė,” a form of state-backed entity in Lithuania).
DeFi Ignas noticed that Binance’s Bifinity paid more taxes than four largest banks operating in the country. As per the U.S. SEC documents, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the co-founder and chief executive officer of the Binance group, is also a sole shareholder in Bifinity UAB.
The researcher is sure that having such a taxpayer incorporated in Lithuania is a net positive for the Baltic state:
Lithuania is a good choice as it offers access to the EU and allows Binance to park their cash (…) Crypto is a blessing for small countries that embrace it
As covered by U.Today previously, Bifinity was launched on March 7, 2022, as Binance’s own payments technology company. It works with various fiat cryptocurrencies, fuels the payments API and is compatible with Visa and Mastercard operators.
Binance (BNB) loses executive amid regulatory pressure
The next day, the U.K. financial watchdog issued a special warning statement regarding the launch of Bifinity and its first partnerships with payments operators.
In the last months, a number of core officers left Binance (BNB) amid rumors of reserves insufficiency and an upcoming regulatory crackdown. Since June 2023, Binance (BNB) has lost its Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann and its Compliance VP Steven Christie, while the directors for Russia and CIS quit Sept. 6.
Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao recommends to “ignore the FUD.” On Sept. 7, Binance (BNB) published its proof of reserves (PoR) for the 10th time to showcase its solvency and readiness for the potential “bank run.”
