Binance To Drop $115 Million On Building New Crypto Ecosystem in France

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is partnering with French non-profit France Fintech to make the country the center of Europe's blockchain industry.

The new initiative, dubbed "Objective Moon", centers on a 100,000,000 EUR investment from Binance which will go towards three key components. Funds will be directed towards the development of a Binance Research and Development hub in France, the creation of a Decentralized Ledger Technology (DLT) accelerator, as well as new online Education Program to "develop blockchain and crypto industry talent" in the country.

France Fintech is comprised of multiple large partners, including Rothschild & Co, Mastercard, and AXA.

Alain Clot, Chairman of France Fintech said in an announcement that he beleives France is optimally positioned in terms of "regulation, talent and expertise" to be a leading cornerstone in Europe's crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. He added that the he expects France's role in the industry to accelerate with the collaboration with Binance.

"At Binance, we recognise the quality of French and European tech, crypto and blockchain talent, and we are convinced that with the launch of Binance's major operations and investment in France, we can significantly contribute toward making France and Europe the leading global player in blockchain and crypto industry."

At a conference, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao highlighted that he felt France had a unique crypto-climate that put extra focus on technological innovation and entrepreneurship.

"France is one of those very advanced communities that understand crypto I believe at a very deep level. They are strong entrepreneurs here, and the people who invest and who are involved in crypto in France... are typically different than some of the other countries. Here, I feel they're more looking at technological innovation and also investments, whereas in some other countries they're really looking at [crypto] as the holding of value...France has a very strong mathematical and engineering background. We see a lot of engineers here which is also important for crypto development."

CZ also adds that with China essentially shutting the crypto industry down, Europe has come into view as more important part of Binance's market. He also says the country's stance on regulation is "really open" compared to other market sectors.