Binance Finalizes Acquisition of Indonesian Exchange Tokocrypto (TKO), Fires 58% of Employees

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• Binance has finalized the acquisition of Tokocrypto, a regulated crypto exchange in Indonesia.
• Binance first invested in Tokocrypto in 2020. Changpeng Zhao said on Twitter that Binance “just injected more cash” and “increased our shareholding a bit.”
• Tokocrypto CEO Pang Xue Kai has left the company. Before leaving, he fired 58% of the firm’s employees, a second job cut round this year for Tokocrypto.
• Tokocrypto’s native token TKO pumped by 37% on the news but has since erased almost all gains.

Binance has finalized the acquisition of Indonesian crypto exchange Tokocrypto, local reports said on Monday.

Binance first invested in Tokocrypto in 2020. At the time, the company was the only regulated crypto exchange in the country. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed the acquisition on Twitter:

“Binance was the majority shareholder of Toko from the beginning. Just injected more cash and increased our shareholding a bit,” he said. Binance’s acquisition of Tokocrypto has already introduced a flurry of changes. Reports indicate that Tokocrypto’s CEO Pang Xue Kai has stepped down from his position.

"Tokocrypto came from our idea more than four years ago and I am very proud to see every growth, achievement and contribution that companies have made to advance Indonesia's digital economy. This decision was made after careful consideration and we decided that the best step for Tokocrypto going forward was to utilize Binance's ability to build a further physical trading platform for crypto assets,” Pang Xue Kai said in a statement. Tokocrypto has also fired around 58% of its workforce, a second job this year after the firm fired 20% of employees last September. Interim CEO Yudhono Rawis said that the decision to fire employees was needed to ensure the company can survive the crypto winter.

"It is unfortunate that we have to streamline the company to ensure that we remain in a good position to deal with uncertain macroeconomic conditions and we express our sincere apologies to affected employees impact,” he said. Tokocrypto’s native token TKO skyrocketed by 37% on the news, from $0.283 to $0.390, according to data from CoinGecko. However, it has since almost completely erased all gains and is currently trading at $0.302. TKO is down 94% from its all-time high of $4.91.

Binance Continues to Expand amid Troubling Revelations

The acquisition of Tokocrypto is only one of the many moves Binance has made this year to expand to other countries.

The world’s largest crypto exchange recently bought Sakura Exchange Bitcoin, a Japanese-regulated exchange, in an attempt to return to the Japanese crypto market.

Binance also received a crypto custody license from Abu Dhabi regulators. It also holds a virtual asset license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). Binance was granted various licenses in countries such as Spain, Kazakhstan, France, and Bahrain.

However, Changpeng Zhao’s exchange has been experiencing some turbulence after the spectacular fall of its rival FTX. Binance is reportedly being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for potential money laundering and criminal sanctions violations.

On top of that, Mazars Group, an auditor who produced Binance’s proof-of-reserves, has paused all work with crypto clients. The firm deleted the audit that it did for Binance from its website, adding to the rumors that the audit might not reveal the true state of Binance’s financial health.

On the Flipside

• It’s unclear who’s going to be the next CEO of Tokocrypto.
• It’s unknown whether Tokocrypto will continue to operate independently from Binance.

Why You Should Care

Binance is the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Its ability to acquire Tokocrypto, one of the better known crypto exchanges in Indonesia, is a positive sign for the wider crypto industry and adoption in general. However, considering the rumors surrounding Binance, investors should still do their research on where to trade, invest, and hold their assets.

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See original on DailyCoin