Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is reinforcing its efforts to establish a presence worldwide, and Georgia is the latest beneficiary. Binance’s decision to create a new regional hub in Tbilisi, Georgia, aligns with its ongoing expansion into new markets and provides it with an opportunity to boost crypto adoption in the country. The environment in Georgia has long been crypto-friendly, with the country morphing into a hotbed for crypto and blockchain technology in recent years.
Expanding presence in and around Georgia
In addition to a favorable business climate, Binance selected Georgia for its strategic location in the surrounding regions, including the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The new hub will serve as a base for Binance’s operations in the Caucasus and Central Asia regions, providing users access to its services. Further, Binance wants to draw out skilled individuals in the country, provoke industry education and training, and ultimately foster more employment opportunities. Currently, the company has 25 employees in Georgia but expects to reinforce this workforce with a dozen more jobs now that its Web3 outpost in the country is up and running.
Binance regional director Vladimir Smerkis noted that Georgia is at the forefront of crypto adoption, but this does not mean regulatory measures are lax. Smerkis explained that Georgian regulators are aware that imposing stringent restrictions on crypto can result in adverse outcomes. For this reason, they have adopted a cautious approach that presents a valuable jump-off point for developers building independent blockchain projects and games.
Enhancing education efforts via partnerships
Binance officially announced its presence in Georgia after a period of effective collaboration with both public and private entities within the local community. The declaration results from several months’ worth of partnerships and a series of engaging community events. Last week, BNB Chain hosted a three-day Web3 hackathon in Georgia as part of Binance’s partnership with the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), providing a golden opportunity for developers to hone their craft. The exchange partnered with GITA last month for a Binance Charity initiative to support women-focused Web3 education.
Binance also launched a collaborative effort with crypto payment gateway CityPay. In January, the CZ-led exchange reached a memorandum of cooperation with Georgian Business and Technology University (BTU) to bolster the realm of education in blockchain technology. This month, four other renowned tertiary institutions – Georgian American University (GAU), Alte University, Caucasus University, and Kutaisi International University – partnered with Binance, aligning with the company’s educational arm Binance Academy.
Space ID completes token sale on Binance Launchpad
In a separate development last Wednesday, Binance announced that the Space ID token sale subscription period was live on Binance Launchpad for three hours between 06:00 and 9:00 am UTC. Users were required to check their eligibility by evaluating their customer accounts to determine whether their BNB balances qualify them for the promotion. If so, they were allowed to purchase Space ID tokens at a fixed price of 0.00007412 BNB, equivalent to $0.025, with a total of 100 million ID tokens and a hard cap of 600,000 ID per user.
As the subscription period ended, there were more than 8.4 million in BNB commitments, translating to about $2.8 billion. However, the full amount committed won’t necessarily be going into the Space ID project because the project has set a maximum funding limit of $2.5 million. Over the years, Binance Launchpad has become the go-to initial exchange offer (IEO) platform, and Space ID qualifies as the 30th promotion of its kind running there.
Space ID operates in Web3, providing various services, such as domain management for crypto-based domain names, including .bnb (more than 440,000 customer requests), .arb (nearly 100,000), and .eth. Users can buy, exchange and register domains, and the platform’s ID token can be used for governance. Beyond domain management, Space ID acts as a payment method, project self-management tool, and discount token for NFT trading, making it a comprehensive platform for Web3 enthusiasts.
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