The president of cryptocurrency exchange Binance is ready to step down as the company aims to become a regulated financial institution.
At a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said he had no plans to leave his post immediately. But the company has plans to succeed.
Zhao told reporters that in the future, we will be a fully regulated financial institution. Also “during this transition period, we will be very open” to finding a new CEO with extensive regulatory experience. It is the world’s largest digital currency exchange by reference. Still, it has recently come under scrutiny by regulators as authorities around the world work to curb the fast-growing crypto industry.
The Financial Conduct Authority has banned Binance’s UK subsidiary from engaging in regulated activities in the UK. According to the FCA, Binance was one of many crypto companies that withdrew their application for a temporary UK licensing scheme. Consequently, after failing to comply with anti-money laundering requirements.
Regulators in Japan, Canada, and Italy have also barred the company from operating in those countries.
The search for the next CEO
According to Zhao, Binance plans to set up several regional headquarters worldwide and will look for licenses wherever they are. Previously, he said that Binance does not have an official seat.
Zhao claims that there are no plans for his succession anytime soon, adding that Binance is keeping our options open.
Zhao said that he will be honored to continue to run Binance as a regulated financial institution. This is until they find somebody who may do a better job.
In May, Bloomberg stated that Binance was facing a federal investigation by the US Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.
Binance said it could not say anything particular about ongoing discussions with regulators in the US or elsewhere.
On Monday, the company said it was reducing the maximum leverage (or leverage) that users could use to trade futures contracts amid fears that these high-risk bets could cost their customers significant losses.
During the first days of this month, Binance said it would not offer stock tokens anymore. Digital versions of stocks like Tesla, Apple, and Coinbase, shift the focus of their trading to digital assets.
This year has been a turbulent year for cryptocurrencies. At one point, Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital coin, hit an all-time high of nearly $65,000. However, it has declined sharply since then.
The cryptocurrency briefly crossed the $40,000 mark almost six weeks after Amazon said it wanted to add digital currency and blockchain experts to its payments team.
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