What’s NEXT For Binance?! Interview With CEO Richard Teng!

The biggest and perhaps the toughest job In crypto has a new man in the hot seat Last week the industry was rocked to its Foundations by the news that binance the World's largest exchange had reached a Settlement with us authorities that Settlement had two main headlines a Record-breaking $4.3 billion fine and The resignation of binance's co-founder And CEO Chang Pang Xiao or CZ now CZ was And remains a towering figure in the Crypto industry a former software Developer he went Allin on bitcoin after Hearing about it over a poker game and Went on to build binance from a startup To a behemoth in what seemed like no Time along the way he became the richest Person in crypto a de facto spokesman For the industry a hero to many and in The minds of some the embodiment of all That was wrong with this new frontier of Finance but he has pleaded guilty to Sanctions and anti-money laundering Violations in the United States which May come with prison time and just Yesterday the judge in the case ruled That he must remain in the US until his Sentencing hearing in February so cz's Time at the Pinnacle of crypto is over Well for now at any rate and he will be A tough act to follow so binance faces Many challenges now including re Assuring its millions of customers Working with us authorities to change

Its practices and trying to maintain its Position in a notoriously competitive Industry but cz's replacement was Already waiting in the wings Richard Tang assumed the role of binance's CEO As CZ made his exit and he is now tasked With taking the company forward a former Civil servant with many years of Experience working with Regulators for The likes of the monetary authority of Singapore and Abu Dhabi Global Market Richard Rose to become binance's head of Regional markets after joining the Company in August 2021 and as you can Imagine Richard is much in demand so we Were very glad that he was able to take Some time to sit down and talk about his New role and the challenges ahead for Binance with my colleague Jessica in his First filmed interview since becoming Binance's new CEO here's what they Discussed Hello and welcome back to coin buau now Joining me it is an absolute pleasure And privilege we have Richard Tang the CEO of Finance taking time out of an Extremely busy schedule so we really Appreciate the time for the conversation Thank you so much how are you doing Today Richard I'm good uh it's always a Pleasure uh and thanks for having me on The program I think this my first week CEO of Finance I'm looking forward to The challenges ahe uh and my I have my

Full team support behind me on that Fantastic so so first week as full CEO So let's let's dive in and break down a Little bit from what we've seen because Binance was hit with a a record fine and Lost its CEO and co-founder and I'd like To get your perspective on how this is Going to impact the company moving Forward so first and foremost uh we have Reached a resolution with several US Agencies on historical issues relating To registration compliance sanction Issue and this resolution is a key Positive for us right we are allowed to Move on from a very challenging period Of our corporate history so just to give You a backdrop binance is six years old Right it started our life in 2017 in Human terminology there's a child going To former schooling now but since from The very early days things like Protection of user funds security safety Of users are secr sectus but in terms of Compliance control they're inadequate For the company that we quickly be very We grew extremely fast in size and you Know that within six months of our Launch we became the largest crypto Exchange in the world and we stay in That position since so there's Inadequacy there are certain misguided Decisions along the way there are Missteps now we have taken Responsibility for those missteps we

Learn from those mistakes as we've all Matur financial institutions should do Taking accountability for it so looking Forward now that we have turned the page I I is spending the past week speaking To our VIP clients our institutions the Overall Market sentiment their sentiment Is overwhelmingly positive right and so Are we so we're are now focusing moving The organization forward into not only Being a user Focus user organization Which is our mentra and that will always Be the case but also being a compliance L Organization allowing us not to only Prosper for the last six years but Continue go from strength to strength Strength in the next 60 years and be Associated with organization that we're Extremely proud of and when it comes to The Fine element of things as we've Mentioned record-breaking figures there Is that something that is going to Hinder or impact bance in the next few Years when it comes to making those Repayments well the fundamentals of Business are extremely strong we still Remain by far the largest crypto Exchange globally uh in terms of volume Right so we'll meet all those fines Without any problems I think it's Important to stress that our business is Strong our capital structure is debt Free right our expenses are very modest

And we are very bullish on future growth The market is warming up again and we're Building for the future and things like As as we talked previously user funds Are saus they are back one to one all The time users can withdraw 100% of the Assets at any point in time So we're very confident of that uh as Part of the US settlement and resolution The US Agencies actually scrutinize Operations in great Detail and as part of that there's no Allegations or no indications that user Funds are misappropriated yeah um on That front we continue to push ahead and We are extremely bullish for the future My three commitment as I've set out in Block post are really to continue to be A user Le organization building products And services that our users want and Need and listening to them focusing on Growth secondly to work with global Regulators around the world to uphold Global standards in this space and the Direction of travel is very clear you're Going to see more regulations more Scrutiny of different players and Thirdly to work with global stakeholders Partners to continue to support Embrace And push ahead with the repb So you've mentioned that this is the Next era of bance moving forward you've Mentioned funds are safe and that's kind Of your confident moving forward if we

Look at the settlement that we have seen The potential outcomes from the SEC and Possibly other Regulators is that Something that is on your mind and and What are your thoughts regarding those I Would say that with this settlement the Biggest overcast for the last one and a Half two years has been lifted so many Of our partners and potential partners Are now reaching us reaching out to us Very aggressively on potential Partnership as for the other uh issues With the other Agencies those are really confidential Right we are working with them to find Proper resolution on those issues but we Are confident and we defend our position Quite rigorously on each and every day And now moving forward so first we CEO You are stepping into some pretty big Shoes what can we expect from your Leadership at Binance well I always say that firstly Um I'm very grateful for cz's the Leadership team is trust in me and my Co-workers trust in me to bring this Very important franchise going forward Right and that to me is why it's Important for me to lead this important Enterprise going forward CZ of course Obviously all of us know inspirational Leader founders CEO um I work with him Closely and I share with him all the Time that he always a joy and pleasure

To see him in action intellect highly Intellect very strategic focus on Execution very hardcore right so all Those are important attributes and his Key Focus has always been making sure Users are taking care of and that will Be my focus as well so there are certain Things that will not change my Background is slightly different from Him I am uh professional manager right I Sort of grew to become a sea Suite Relatively early in my life as well so I'm very used to managing big teams uh Big companies moving those franchise go Going forward and my motto is always Leave the company in a better shape Compared to when I inherited the company So on that front I'm looking forward Working very closely with Stakeholders uh on the different fronts So I'm very confident of our path going Forward we have moved past this very Difficult chapter the next chapter is Slightly different the industry is Continuing to mature right so if you Compare to six years ago when binance First started off it's a very Nas Industry very young industry we make Some missteps because those at those Early Days the regulations are also at a very Early stage of development even until Today the regulations are not so clear In many parts of the world but the

Industry the direction is very clear Towards Regulations the industry is maturing you Have more players more institutions Coming into play I always I've always Said that for Mass adoption to take Place in crypto you need two critical Dimensions firstly institutional Adoption and you are seeing the likes of Black Rock Fidelity child SW and the Rest all jumping on the bandwagon you Need regulations to give user additional Trust and industry working very closely Today so I'm very confident with these Two Dimension at play you're going to See huge mesh adoption coming true in The next three to five years so we're Very bullish out the prospect on that on That front and we are as well at coin I Think we can definitely tell that Something is interesting it's exciting To build within our viewership and Audience you've mentioned there that Regulatory elements are still not fully Clear in certain jurisdictions you have A very strong regulatory background how Are you going going to make sure that The perap same mistakes haven't been Made or replicated indeed uh that's That's extremely Critical we have in over the course of The past two years invested very heavily Into our compliance program so the shift From being a technology firm which is

The life of bance at outset to become a Regulated entity started really with Fervor about two years back so since Then we have Recruited a lot of uh very well-known Professionals within both the Traditional Finance base X Regulators Into our F build and continue to invest Into our compliance program is to make Sure that you know whatever gaps there Are we're on the journey to close those Gaps very Aggressively I think those efforts have Been acknowledged by the US Agencies as Well if not we wouldn't be able to come To a resolution on all this issue it Those continue to be a big issue so I Think it's important to bear in mind That we are responsible player we are The first exchange outside of the US to Really introduce mandatory know your Customer requirements right until very Recently many still do not have them and Now even for those that have them they Perun in nature going forward we're Going to have a board of directors right So the governing Authority is a board Myself my management team will be Reporting to the board we do have an Independent monitor in in the company to Make sure that the compliance program Continue to be enhance continue to meet Up with global standards and I to me to Me I think that's a big positive for the

Company it's not only us saying that you Know our compliance program is best in Class in the industry but there's Another independent party looking at us To say yes that's indeed the case that Will give a lot more Assurance to Institutions to Partners looking to book With us to say that look they take all These things very seriously they know What they're doing and they are the most Important company in crypto and it's Useful for us to continue to partner There so we look forward to That and you've previously worked with Singapore Global markets as well crypto Is a slightly different Beast um in some Regard so with some of your past Experience passively past uh Communications and some of the things That you've learned over the way what Will you be bringing to the finance Role I would say that you know I have Close to three decades of traditional Financial regulatory experience as well As recent years rep Tre experience right So it's a combination of everything yeah It's not a oneman show right it's a Collective team effort and I have with Me I'm very fortunate to have very very Talented team of people both at the Management level but but also at the Staff level extremely committed to the Company to doing the thing doing the Right things in the right fashion so

Going forward I have the support of this Team I'm very confident that we continue To chart the path ahead in terms of both The growth Dimension as well as making Sure that we comply with all the Compliance needs that we need to meet so I utilize I will harness all my past Experience as well as the experience of My team to really bring this Enterprise Small I wanted to stress that I hold Very dearly the trust of our 150 million Users that put on us even after the US Resolution I think because Overwhelmingly is view as positive we Have more users coming to us so we take That trust very very seriously I do take The trust in terms of the livelihood of Our thousands and employee very Seriously so I carry those burdens I Take those very seriously and those are The things that will continue to drive Me I use my best Endeavor to make sure The company continue to prosper and be Sustainable uh in the next few decades Going forward so you have the support of The team internally also the support on Social media on crypto Twitter there Seemed to be a flood of people that were Really welcoming you with open arms into The role I do want to ask because we did Have one tweet that came out in June From a gentleman called Travis cing and He mentioned that if binance holds on to The current level of influence no chance

Of an ETF is approved and that did cause A little bit of F and possibly Speculation when we did see the news Last week coming out from the doj what's Your take when you see tweets and Speculation like that well I think some Of these tweets are most unfortunate uh Obviously I do not share those sentiment I do think that you know the basis of The settlement is quite clear um the Whole motivation is to allow us to move On from a challenging period I think Everybody is much better off the crypto Industry will be healthier so if this Resolution we move on we work very Closely with global Regulatory Agencies Right On Any Given year we have more Than 50,000 law enforcement requests we Actually conduct lessons throughout the World for law enforcement agencies Because crypto unlike Fiat is a Traceable technology right so people Always have this perception there's a Lot of money fing illicit funds Happening in crypto but if you look at The percentage of those going through Crypto is only 0.02% of what's happening in the Fiat Space I can assure you if you have 100 Million uh in Fiat and then you start to Distribute that it's extremely difficult To trace you do not know where the money Flow to in crypto as you know we can Trace it so it is very important to bear

That in mind we are cooperating fully With the regulators and many Regulators Are very enlightened on that space right Whether you know certain products are Being approved again it's not alcohol uh Travis probably have to check in the Relevant Regulators but what we truly Believe in is with all these Institutional players coming in and with Clarity of regulations that will bring About a much more robust vibrant Dynamic Ecosystem and you will the floating Tight will rise all both right and we Intend to continue to be a champion on That front so let's move things inhouse Then BNB chain is that going to be Impacted in anyway how are you expecting That to be impacted and is it still Going to be the de facto chain of the Exchange I don't see any changes to that I think B&B is open infrastructure uh Which many projects developers continue To use it and many of them are Continuing to be very positive Optimistic and committed to the chain we Have see many new projects coming on the Chain and we continue to support you Know uh all those develop so I do not See any changes on that and just to go Back to the youve just mentioned the Sheer size of binance as an exchange World's leading 150 million users what Message do you have to other exchanges Possibly industry competitors based on

The the lessons and findings that we've Experienced well as I mentioned uh we Are the largest and we are the first Outside of the US ex changes to impose Mandatory kyc because we do know that's The direction of travel and until Recently many still do not have those uh And even for those that have introduced Them um is sometimes perun in nature so We are starting now after we turn this Episode behind us after we leave this Episode behind us in a position of Strength we continue to move on Bill I I do think that some of this Scrutiny will now be focused on the Others So you would do well for all to Understand the direction of travel is Really more regulations we really have To as a crypto industry uphold high Standards working very closely with Regulators with other stakeholders to Uphold the Integrity of this sector as We look to grow this ecosystem together So we are in it together and we are Looking forward to work with many Different parties and stakeholders and I I' like to thank our community for Support right we are only here because Of the community support of our user Support and they have been extremely Supportive that trust has been built Over a period of six years right they Know what we stand for we have been

Consistent in our actions they know Their assets are safe with us and Through time I mean we have gone through Different episodes where there are much Larger withdrawal and we always say that Your assets are 100% safe is back on a Onetoone basis you can withdraw them at Any point in time and that's our Commitment to them so they trust us and They know that we are always driving in Terms of new innovation driving in terms Of building new products and services That they need and keep looking out for That their interest and now added to That Dimension you have a compliance Le Organization which allow us to really Work with more partners that in the past That may be hesitant in terms of those Partnership and those are reaching out To us aggressively so we are very Bullish on our future a lot of elements What's the primary focus now for the Next few weeks now that you're newly Appointed into the role of first weeker CEO what is what's what's first on the Mind well I've engaged in deep Conversation with both external and Internal stakeholders both shutting out Our path forward I've uh named three Commitments um first users secondly Working Regulators that LE Partners both In the shortterm and long term those Will be guiding principle right making Sure that we are the best organization

We are we can be supporting user needs Uh continue to build uh our platform To be the best it can be uh users Continue to trust us we continue to Provide Assurance in terms of of safety Security providing that confidence to Them working with Regulators obviously I Spend a lot of time with global Regulators chutting out all compliance Investment all compliance program the Path ahead in terms of governance Structure with board of directors etc Etc and then working very closely with Partners Global Partners that reaching To me to my team and looking working Very closely so we have been making Announcement on both the products and Services frun uh with new products being Launched as well as new partnership that We be engaging going forward fantastic Well best of luck with the new role on Behalf of myself and the rest of the Coin be team thank you for this being The first iners interview we really Appreciate to sit down and we wish you All the luck moving forward thank you Thank you so much for having me thank You thank You well for someone with such a Monumental task ahead of him Richard Certainly sounded confident that binance Will weather this storm my thanks to him For taking the time out of his busy Schedule to talk with us so in his words

Quote user funds are sacran and although There were missteps and quote misguided Decisions along the way binance will Endeavor to learn the lessons of those Mistakes and that is a promise that Richard and binance will be held to As part of the settlement officials from The US Department of Justice and the Treasury will be working alongside Binance for the next few years to ensure That it remains fully Compliant and they will have access to Binance's systems and Records so there Could be some interesting discoveries Made as a result of this however all Things considered this settlement Probably couldn't have come at a better Time for binance or indeed for crypto as A whole the market is indeed beginning To warm up again after a long cold Crypto winter spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Perhaps even ethereum are likely not far Off and the Bitcoin harving in April Next year will put crypto back in the Spotlight again this time we have to Hope for more positive reasons now Binance has been a source of concern for The industry for years as we long feared That the Day of Reckoning would come and All of crypto would have become Collateral damage that hasn't happened The market Shrugged off the news and Binance processed all withdrawal Requests without issue binance and

Crypto now have a chance to move on and Show the world that the wild west days Of the past are gone and they won't be Coming back so Richard good luck and Over to you