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Following a series of crackdowns, CEOs of many prominent crypto companies told CNBC that regulators are beginning to take a more favourable stance to digital currency.

While China has explicitly outlawed cryptocurrency, countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have declared plans to add regulatory control to the young market.

On the margins of the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, CEO of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, told CNBC, "The tide is absolutely turning."

Binance was forbidden from engaging in any regulated business in the United Kingdom last year, and its services were curtailed in Singapore after the central bank warned it might be in violation of local regulations.

Zhao claimed regulatory conversations about cryptocurrency have turned from "negative" to "positive" in a speech that kicked off the gathering on Wednesday.

The event's MC used the crypto slang term "wagmi," which means "we're all going to make it," before introducing Zhao.

"To be honest, I think we made it," he added, adding that crypto is a lifeline for some in Ukraine as a result of Russia's invasion.

However, the crypto world has a long way to go before it is widely accepted. And the fate of the industry is mainly determined by the methods taken by various worldwide regulators.

Governments are acting

Nicolas Cary, co-founder of crypto wallet provider Blockchain.com, told CNBC that "the regulatory landscape throughout the world is coming up to speed swiftly."

Last week, the UK government declared that stablecoins — digital assets that mirror the prices of existing currencies like the US dollar — would be included to the local payments system.

Rishi Sunak, the British Finance Minister, has also requested that the Royal Mint, which is in charge of generating the country's currency, create a non-fungible token, or NFT, which is the crypto world's equivalent of rare collector things.

"In this environment, the United Kingdom may be a dark horse," Cary told CNBC.

"They sort of have a policy decision and a strategy decision to make post-Brexit," he added. "Do they reconstruct Brussels in London, or do they become the West's Singapore, inviting all of this innovation, all of this technology, all of this wealth development, and truly owning the future of the Web?"

Crypto executives told CNBC that governments want to stimulate innovation in financial markets and the next possible iteration of the internet, called as "Web3."

However, they are wary of the industry's shadow side, which includes money laundering and other criminal operations, as well as the environmental impact of energy-intensive bitcoin mining.

President Joe Biden of the United States recently signed an executive order urging federal agencies to work together on digital assets. According to industry insiders, the exploitation of digital assets for Russian sanctions evasion is a major issue for Western regulators.

"I think they're starting to take it seriously," Arthur Breitman, a co-founder of Tezos, a blockchain platform that competes with Ethereum, told CNBC.

"Naturally, they'll have a conservative bent," said Breitman. However, he stressed that only a "small fraction" of crypto payments are linked to illicit behavior.

According to data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, illegal behavior accounted for less than 0.2 percent of digital currency transactions in 2021.

Offensive charm

Binance's Zhao told CNBC that France is "extremely progressive and very receptive towards cryptocurrencies." "They have a lot more understanding than we have."

In Paris this week, Binance turned on the charm by launching a "Web3 and crypto" start-up accelerator program in collaboration with the business incubator Station F.

It comes at a time when the corporation, which formerly boasted about having no official headquarters, is looking for a global headquarters.

"Our regional headquarters for Europe will undoubtedly be in Paris," Zhao stated. "Before becoming worldwide, we'll set up a lot of regional headquarters."

Binance now has licenses in Bahrain, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, as well as interim permission in Bahrain. It is overseen by Lithuanian anti-money laundering authorities in Europe and is applying for registration with Sweden's financial services regulator.

Is the United States lagging behind?

According to Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of blockchain firm Ripple, not all regulators are on board with crypto's rapid rise.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Ripple, Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen, alleging that they fraudulently sold over $1 billion in XRP.

The SEC claims that XRP should be classified as a security, which Ripple denies.

"When I give entrepreneurs advise on starting a crypto or blockchain business, I tell them not to incorporate in the United States," Garlinghouse added. "Because of the lack of clarity and certainty, you are at risk of facing the same type of litigation that the SEC filed against us."

Ripple is even considering relocating its headquarters outside of the United States, with London and Singapore being two possible locations.

"This year, Ripple will hire over 300 people, with more than half of them coming from outside the United States," Garlinghouse stated.

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