Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao explained that as a company, they should turn from a technology startup to a financial services company, and a new name is likely to be appointed as Binance CEO in the process.
Speaking at the SCB 10X DeFi Summit this week, Changpeng Zhao said that regulators around the world have started to scrutinize the cryptocurrency market much more especially in the last few months.
“I think at Binance we haven't done a very good job of communicating with regulators so far.” said Zhao, announcing that new steps will be taken to change this.
Communication with regulatory agencies
The founder and CEO of Binance said that they have started to add names with experience in the regulation side, and especially former regulators, to the Binance team, and that they will gradually expand the legal compliance team.
Over the past few months, Binance has recruited Rick McDonell, a former secretary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Josée Nadeau, former director of FATF's Canadian agency, and Max Baucus, a former Montana senator.
Stating that they will try to improve their communication with the regulators, Zhao said, “Every country has different rules (about cryptocurrencies).” He explained that they will focus on localization. For this, Binance will begin to separate the products on its platform by country.
Searching for a new CEO
Stating that regulators now see cryptocurrencies as financial assets, Zhao said, “We should treat them like this and manage the company accordingly.” said.
Zhao, who describes himself as a "tech entrepreneur", does not see himself as a suitable candidate to lead this process. Explaining that he is looking for a new CEO for this, the name said:
“Honestly, I'm currently looking for a veteran with a strong background in regulation, who can lead this entire organization, maybe become the new CEO. I am a technology entrepreneur. I've been running the company for four years and we have a change process to go through right now. I do not think that I am the most suitable person to handle this process. Probably someone with a strong background in regulation would be more appropriate.”
Emphasizing that cryptocurrencies have now become a “heavily regulated” industry, Zhao advised all companies to act in accordance with this change process.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume, has received warnings from regulators of regions such as Japan, United Kingdom, Italy, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Poland, Thailand since the end of June.