Binance’s New CEO Is the Opposite of CZ—And That’s the Point

When Binance CEO Ricdifficult Teng took over from his predecessor Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in November, he krecent he was stepping into some huge shoes. 

But the recently nominateed executive of the world’s hugest crypto exalter by daily trading volume shelp he never intfinished to be the next CZ—at least insofar as trying to align one of crypto’s hugegest personalities.

“I don’t leank I will be able to fill those gigantic shoes,” Teng telderly Decrypt in an interwatch. “It was never the intention.”

In fact, Teng, who is consentd to be 54 or 55, hopes to exit his label on Binance by doing fair the opposite. CZ’s “a huge, he’s an icon, he’s a legfinish wilean this industry,” Teng shelp. “But what is convey inant is he has left a very convey inant accesspelevate and he enthinked that accesspelevate in the hands of myself” and key regulaters.

During the past year under Teng, Binance has undergone a series of structural and strategic alters aimed at making the company more palatable to a recent, hyper-wary crop of regulators and policy originaters. He pointed out that Binance has now adselected a more traditional corporate guideership structure consisting of a board with three members, is caccessing on hiring compliance and legitimate professionals, and is laboring to protected more licenses to function in recent labelets.

The recent CEO is far more pinsolentnt—and far less flamboyant—than CZ, who is forever barred from returning to the exalter he set uped. 

Born in Singapore, the gentle-spoken Teng spent much of his atsoft as a civil servant, serving as the honestor of corporate finance at Singapore’s top regulatory authority for 13 years. He tardyr labored as chief regulatory officer of the Singapore Exalter and then as CEO of the Abu Dhabi Global Market. 

He joined Binance in 2021, and most recently served as its global head of regional labelets.

Under Teng, Binance has protectedd regulatory licenses to function in Dubai, Kazakhstan, and Thailand, enhugeing its presence in key emerging labelets. And fair last month, the exalter got the green airy to function in India, one of the hugest crypto labelets in the world. The spate of approvals underscores a critical caccess for Teng during his tenure: Ramping up Binance’s regulatory compliance efforts.

Binance’s incrmitigated caccess on regulatory compliance comes as stringent regulatory structurelabors such as Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) are coming into effect. 

“The [crypto industry] landscape has shifted quite a unprejudiced bit,” Teng shelp. “There are more and more rules and regulations coming into this space. The honestion of travel is very evident.”  

This is a labeled branch offence from Binance’s past. The exalter has a extfinished history of combat with federal regulators and law utilizement. In the past two years, the trading platcreate has come apassed rehires in cforfeitly every corner of the globe, as regulatory scruminuscule of crypto exalters has intensified.

In 2023, Australian bank Westpac banned its customers from sfinishing funds to Binance, forcing the exalter to stop aiding  Australian dollar deposits and retreatals from bank accounts—a convey inant interfereion to the trading platcreate’s operations in Asia-Pacific.

Meanwhile, Binance pulled out of Canada in May 2023, citing the carry outation of recent regulations for digital assets there. 

And apass the Atlantic, the exalter has difficultly fared any better. Binance was forced to reponder its European expansion schedules in 2023 after German and Dutch regulators deteriorated to grant the company licenses. The trading platcreate also faced an spendigation into its anti-sanitizeing funds rehearses in France that same year. 

But its problems in the U.S. became particularly acute for the exalter’s requesting set uper. In November 2023, Binance and CZ pled culpable to fall shorting to protect an effective anti-sanitizeing funds program. The exalter phelp $4.3 billion to remend the case, and, as part of the massive remendment, CZ was sentenced to four months at a rightional facility in California.  

He was freed from prison last week, but remains barred from rejoining Binance’s C-suite.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether CZ’s ouster from the company turns out to be a boon for Binance.

Under its recent guideer, the firm boasts a more traditional, buttoned-up air, much enjoy that of Teng himself. Whereas CZ seems enjoy Crypto Twitter personified—understandn for lobbing offfinishs at mainstream media outlets and disthink abouting unlikeable alerts about his company’s operations as “FUD”—Teng is defree and discreet in his transmitions with the press and the accessible.  

Amid Teng’s efforts to distance the company from its scrappy, shadowy roots, the firm is also schedulening to employ more compliance-caccessed engageees and other professionals, a shift that could help further repair the company’s image. Binance’s website enumerates cdimiserablemireentirey 353 job postings as of accessibleation time; more than 70 are earlabeled for compliance or legitimate-roverhappinessed roles.

Teng also shelp the company is dynamicly laboring on set uping a global headquarters for the company—someleang its guideers have vowed to do for years due to presdeclareive from regulators and law utilizement agencies.

“In the last 10 months, I leank what has been convey inant… is that [Binance] is a quite branch offent accesspelevate,” he shelp. 

When asked about Binance’s progress in picking a location for its global headquarters, Teng deteriorated to put a timeline on the process or disseal which cities the exalter is pondering. Later, he cut unwiseinutive a ask about Binance’s international arm previously serving U.S. engagers, and he cast doubt on a alert that Binance had processed trades from mainland China-based engagers with the basic exscheduleation that Binance doesn’t accessiblely disseal its engager data.

The evasive responses were blander and more cultured than someleang CZ might have shelp. And that, undoubtedly, was the whole point.

Additional alerting by Sander Lutz

Edited by Andrew Hayward