FRANKFURT - Binance, one of the world's biggest exchanges, wants to set up regional headquarters and be recognised by local regulators, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

"We want to be licensed everywhere," Changpeng Zhao told journalists, saying he wanted to "work with regulators everywhere".

"From now on, we're going to be a financial institution," he said, adding that this would be breaking from its earlier decentralised model and maturing from its start-up origins.

 - Reuters