CoinMarketCap, a leading provider of cryptocurrency market data, has nominated Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, for its inaugural Crypto Leader of the Year award. This nomination comes after Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reached a resolution with the U.S. government that included CZ stepping down from his role as CEO.
According to CoinMarketCap's website, CZ is considered "a key figure in crypto," having attracted 170 million users to the Binance platform. CoinMarketCap stated that CZ "demonstrated his commitment to stability and the needs of the global crypto community" by ensuring a smooth transition to Binance's new CEO, Richard Teng. Other nominees for the Crypto Leader of the Year award include Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Coinbase CEO Ryan Armstrong, and Julie Leung, CEO of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission.
The inaugural crypto awards by CoinMarketCap feature eight categories including Most Innovative DeFi Project and Crypto of the Year. The company's website reveals that public voting for each award will be open until March 3rd with winners announced on March 6th. Rush Luton, CoinMarketCap's CEO expressed his enthusiasm about these awards in a statement: "The innovation we have seen in Crypto this past year is truly inspiring," he said. "Our intention is for the CMC Crypto Awards to become the most recognized annual celebration of Crypto and Web3."
In November 2023, Binance announced that it had reached a resolution with multiple U.S. government agencies regarding historical compliance issues, according to a post on its website. The company acknowledged its responsibility for historical criminal compliance violations which allowed it to move forward from "a challenging yet transformative chapter of learning and growth." The post also emphasized that while Binance was not accused by the U.S. government of misusing customer funds or engaging in market manipulation, it admitted to not having adequate compliance controls in place during its initial launch. The company stated that it has since restructured and elevated leadership with compliance backgrounds to ensure a safer and more secure platform for its users.
CZ commented on his decision to step down as CEO in a post, stating it was "the right thing to do" for Binance and the larger crypto community. He admitted making mistakes and emphasized the need to take responsibility. He described Binance's new CEO as "a highly qualified leader" with extensive experience in the financial and regulatory sectors, capable of steering the company through its next growth phase.
Launched in 2017, Binance is currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally with a daily trading volume of approximately $76 billion as of August 2022, according to CoinMarketCap. The platform lists over 350 tokens and provides users with options to buy, sell, and store digital assets.