Binance not looking for new CEO as CZ clarifies

Changpeng Zhao had hinted at a press conference that Binance might be looking for another CEO, but he clarified hours later.

On July 27th, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and CEO of Binance, hosted a virtual press conference and hinted that he’s open to the idea of being replaced, especially by someone from a regulatory background as Binance comes under increasing scrutiny around the world.

Finding replacement and embracing regulation

Zhao said, “There is always a pool of candidates who could succeed me. We are looking for someone with a strong regulatory background to step in and be CEO.”

“I will always contribute to Binance and the BNB ecosystem. I don’t have to be CEO to do that,” Zhao added.

Retraction from the statement

Merely hours after the conference he clarified on Twitter that there are “no immediate plans” for the succession. “CEO contingency planning starts in Day 0, same as any other role. I feel CEOs should not stay for more than 10 years, ideally around 5 years. We live in a dynamic world. We need new thinking,” CZ tweeted.

Binance is open to regulation

CZ has acknowledged the fact that Binance needs to be regulated and said, “honored to run Binance as a regulated financial institution.”

Binance is “pivoting from a tech startup to a financial institution,” he further added.

“We have a structure that’s relatively hard to understand for regulators. For example, simple things like we don’t have a headquarters,” he explained to reporters. “So, we are now looking to establish multiple headquarters in regional headquarters in different parts of the world. We don’t have specific locations for all of them yet.”

Stepping up compliance

Binance is currently under investigation in more than 10 countries. Amidst this crackdown spree, it has made some important announcements that aim at better compliance with the financial regulations.

The exchange has imposed “Daily Withdrawal Limits” to enhance compliance with the KYC regulations.

Moreover, it has launched a “Tax Reporting Tool API” to track crypto activities and provide third-party tax vendors for tax reporting.

Recently, Binance had also reduced the “Binance Futures Leverage” ceiling to 20X for new accounts.

Cryptocurrency adoption has skyrocketed in the past year even after falling into the grey area of financial regulations. Regulation of the industry will provide impetus to budding entrepreneurs to innovate fearlessly, resulting in new kinds of products and services.