​Iris Energy’s senior executive speaks about Binance’s negotiations with Berkshire Hathaway

What’s new? On December 22, it was reported on Twitter that cryptocurrency exchange Binance began talks to raise investments. According to Mike Alfred, a board member of the mining company Iris Energy, a possible partner for the exchange could be Berkshire Hathaway, owned by billionaire Warren Buffett.

serve as a "decentralized CFO" according to the company.2. Binance is an active discussions with potential new "Keystone" investors, including Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, about an equity round that would provide support and credibility to the company. — Mike Alfred (@mikealfred) December 22, 2022

What other information has been released? According to Alfred, he spoke with a fund manager who is closely connected to one of Binance’s first investors. The manager told him that the exchange does not have a CFO, but that there are more than 20 employees in the treasury who serve as a “decentralized CFO.”

In addition, Binance is now actively discussing with potential investors, including Berkshire Hathaway, the possibility of a new round of funding to provide support and increase credibility to the exchange.

Alfred also revealed that Binance has been negotiating with a major auditor for a month. Previously, Binance’s auditor, international auditing firm Mazars, suspended all work for cryptocurrency companies. It confirmed the exchange’s reserve collateralization of 101%, but the report is no longer available on the company’s website. In addition, the day before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strengthened its oversight of auditors’ work serving crypto companies. Many firms themselves refuse such cooperation, fearing reputational damage.

Twitter users expressed doubts about the veracity of Alfred’s statements about a possible partnership with Berkshire Hathaway because Buffett is known for his skeptical stance on bitcoin. Earlier he said that he would not buy all the bitcoins in the world even for $25 because he does not know what to do with them. At the time, Buffett explained that he was more confident in real estate or industrial assets.

On December 19, representatives from Binance.US, the US arm of Binance, said that they were willing to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to buy distressed companies in order to attract new customers and assets, as well as add technologies, products, and services that are not currently available on the platform.

In late November, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced the creation of a fund of at least $1 billion to buy distressed digital assets.