Thursday 17 March 2022 6:34 pm

Eqonex appoints Binance UK lead as chief executive

Eqonex, the parent of the crypto custodian Digivault, has appointed Jonathan Farnell, the former head of Binance UK as its new chief executive.

The appointment of Farnell was arranged as part of a partnership which saw Bitfinity, a subsidiary of Binance specialising in payments, advance a $36m loan to Equonex in exchange for control rights.

“We can already see the strengths and capabilities that we can harness between the two companies,” commented Farnell.

“Eqonex has an outstanding regulatory and licensing track record and market-leading expertise at identifying opportunities for institutions, which is most clearly evident when looking at the Digivault business that continues to attract institutions and law enforcement agencies,” he added.

The deal prompted a sharp-toothed response from the UK’s financial watchdog which raised concerns the partnership could give Binance, an unregulated entity, de facto control of FCA-registered crypto firm Digivault.

The regulator issued a statement remarking that it lacked powers to prevent a takeover of Digivault, which it registers for money laundering purposes, by Binance. The Financial Conduct Authority took the opportunity to remind consumers of its existing concerns about the company which received a public dressing down from the regulator in June 2021, when a warning was issuing confirming that the company lacked licenses to perform financial activities in the UK.

Chi-Won Yoon, the chairman of Eqonex, told City A.M. that he hopes the partnership with Bitfinity will help Binance to win over regulator.

“That was actually one of the key value propositions we brought to the table from the very beginning,” commented Chi-Won.

“Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, and they’re very good at what they do. Obviously, because they’re also the largest they can also become a target for regulators.”

“I think what we found to be really exciting was the opportunity to partner up with the regulated part of that organisation and try to make it legitimate,” Chi-Won continued.