Binance might soon have a new CEO to address the overwhelming difficulties recently faced by the largest crypto exchange in the world.
According to those with knowledge of the situation, Richard Teng has emerged as the front-runner to succeed Zhao as CEO.
Teng, who has more than 11 years of work experience, formerly held the positions of chief exec of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, chief regulatory officer of the Singapore Exchange Ltd., and director of corporate finance of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Teng assumed the position of CEO of Singapore for Binance in August 2021, and he quickly progressed through the ranks.
With his most recent elevation, he took on even more authority, extending his leadership beyond Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
The succession issues became even more urgent as Binance dealt with regulatory issues in the US after the CFTC sued it for regulatory violations.
At the same time, the US Department of Justice has also been investigating the firm on money laundering laws and potential tax offenses, and it’s mulling potential charges.
Beyond the US, the CZ-led trading platform was forced to withdraw from Canada citing issues related to the nation’s regulations on stablecoins and investor limits.
Canada introduced harsher rules for trading digital assets earlier this year, which caused a number of significant crypto exchanges to leave the sector. Along with Binance, other trading firms like OKX, Paxos, Blockchain.com, and Deribit also made their exits known.
Again in mid-May, Binance’s Australian payments partner abruptly closed down, preventing local users from making bank transfers to deposit Australian dollars on the platform.
The move severely affected business as around two weeks later, it stopped all Australian trading pairs and bank withdrawals of the local currency.
Binance Leadership Overhaul Hints Willingness To Work With Regulators
Although Binance still has more trading volume than the combined volume of all other top centralized crypto exchanges, its position has never appeared shakier.
Based on Teng’s prior high-profile stints, his arrival into the picture makes him the ideal choice to help lead Binance through the regulatory maelstrom bearing down on it.
In the words of Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University, Teng’s appointment “checks the boxes for trust. Binance is signaling that they want to work with the regulators.”