Richard Teng, the recently appointed CEO of Binance, expressed optimism about the company's future during an X Spaces event on Dec. 1. He indicated that new organizations are showing interest in partnering with Binance following its resolution with the U.S. government. Binance, which is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, shared Teng’s comments in a post on its website dated Dec. 4.
"Learning from our past actions, we now move stronger as an organization, and we have a strong foundation to build on," Teng said during the event, according to the post from Binance. "With this overcast gone, a lot of new partners are now approaching us. The industry remains resilient, and our user base continues to grow. Today, we have over 166 million users, and that figure continues to grow quite robustly."
According to Teng, the resolution of the U.S. government’s investigation into Binance has paved the way for the company to progress and focus on future prospects. Despite prioritizing its users since its inception, he admitted that there were times when their "compliance controls were lacking."
On Nov. 30, Binance announced a pioneering triparty agreement with a third-party banking partner. The post explained that "This solution enables institutional investors to keep trading collateral off-exchange in the custody of a third-party banking partner." Through this agreement, Binance's institutional clients can hold collateral in fiat-equivalent forms such as Treasury Bills with a banking partner. Catherine Chen, Binance’s Head of VIP and Institutional Business Development, noted that "We are in close discussions with an array of banking partners and institutional investors who have also expressed strong interest in participating."
On Nov. 21, Binance disclosed it had reached a settlement with the U.S. government over compliance violations which allows it to continue operations. The company acknowledged that it made mistakes as it grew in an evolving industry, but sees this settlement as a new chapter of learning and growth. Binance underscored that the U.S. Department of Justice did not accuse it of misusing any customer funds or engaging in market manipulation. As part of the settlement, Teng replaced the company’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao.
Prior to joining Binance in Aug. 2021, Teng held several positions including CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), and Director of Corporate Finance at the Monetary Authority of Singapore.