Coinspeaker Binance Gets New CEO Following Sudden Departure of Changpeng Zhao (CZ)
After a lengthy fight between the United States government through the Department of Justice (DoJ), and the leading cryptocurrency exchange by registered users and daily traded volume Binance Holdings Ltd, co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) agreed to step down as part of the resolution. Notably, Binance announced that it has reached a resolution with the DoJ, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in relation to the investigations of fraud and money laundering charges. As part of the resolution with the US agencies, Richard Teng, Binance’s former global head of regional markets, was announced to succeed CZ as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
“Richard is a highly qualified leader and, with over three decades of financial services and regulatory experience, he will navigate the company through its next period of growth,” Binance noted.
In his acceptance note, Teng highlighted that he will focus on reassuring the more than 160 million Binance customers of the company’s safety and security measures. Additionally, Teng noted that the Binance team will work closely with global regulators to ensure customer protection and foster blockchain innovations. Meanwhile, Teng indicated that Binance will continue to work closely with its partners to ensure the mainstream adoption and growth of Web3 technology.
It is an honour and with the deepest humility that I step into the role of Binance’s new CEO.
We operate the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. The trust placed on us by our 150m users and thousands of employees is a responsibility that I take seriously and hold…
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) November 21, 2023
Worth noting that Teng has a rich track record in the financial regulatory environment, having worked in Dubai and Singapore for the past years.
Closer Look at the USA vs Binance Case
As part of the settlement plan between the United States and Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange is expected to part with about $4.3 billion. According to the DoJ-led investigators, Binance amassed about $1.6 billion from U.S.-based customers, which accounted for approximately 17 percent of the company’s total users. The US government accused Binance of intentionally avoiding compliance with the anti-money laundering laws set for financial institutions.
Meanwhile, Binance’s ex-CEO is expected to remain a key supporter of the web3 industry as he still is a major shareholder of the cryptocurrency exchange among other DeFi projects. According to an on-chain analysis conducted by Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) director Conor Grogan, Binance will comfortably pay all the US fines without needing to sell a single asset.
I backed out Binance Corporate's crypto holdings from their Proof of Reserves: $6.35B total assets, $3.19B in stablecoins
Doesn't include off-chain cash balances or funds held in wallets not in PoR
Most likely able to pay full $4.3B DoJ fine with 0 crypto asset sales pic.twitter.com/GK45EwRSPO
— Conor (@jconorgrogan) November 21, 2023
Market Implications
Following the bombshell news, Binance native coin BNB dropped about 11 percent in the past 24 hours to trade around $235 on Wednesday during the early Asian market. Interestingly, FTX native coin FTT gained about 15 percent in the same period to trade around $3.63. The blow to the Binance community is expected to be a huge win for Coinbase among other US-based crypto exchanges.
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Binance Gets New CEO Following Sudden Departure of Changpeng Zhao (CZ)
