When it came to light that CZ would step down and potentially face 18 months in prison, and that Binance would pay a $4.3 billion fine, Richard Teng was appointed to lead Binance into a new era.

Teng has a past in regulation, having worked for 13 years as Chief Regulatory Officer for the SGX Group (Singapore Exchange). He has expressed a willingness to work with regulators, despite the lack of regulatory clarity, particularly in the US.

“In those very early days, while we were building up the company, there were gaps in terms of compliance. That resulted in all these breaches and mistakes, but these are historical issues,” Teng told Cointelegraph earlier this week. He said fostering institutional adoption and a clarity of rules and regulations were both key to crypto going mainstream.

“If you just manage the risk, there is no activity. So risk needs to be managed in a proportionate manner.”

Richard Teng, CEO, Binance

“Our interests are very aligned with those of policymakers and regulators – market hygiene, user protection, security of the platform … The more you can put yourself in the shoes of where they are coming from, the better,” Teng said in an interview. “The industry is concerned more with the growth dimension. But it’s how to convince policymakers and regulators that the growth dimension is equally important. If you just manage the risk, there is no activity. So risk needs to be managed in a proportionate manner.”

Binance has refused to disclose the location of its global heaquarters, the FT reported this week, after Teng spoke at the FT Crypto and Digital Assets Summit. Two global bases are known to the public – the UAE serves as its MENA hub, and France as its center of European operations.

Under Zhao’s leadership, Binance hid substantial links to China for several years despite public messages claiming the exchange had left the country, the FT said. Through its deals with US authorities, Teng said Binance had “acknowledged those mistakes” and “moved past them”.

Crypto is experiencing a bull run based on speculation that a bitcoin ETF could be finalized in January 2024.