Meeting Binance CEO Richard Teng

Yesterday, CoinDesk was lucky enough to sit down with Richard Teng, the new CEO of Binance. It was a chance for us to meet with the man entrusted to run the world’s biggest crypto company at a fascinating time. Teng, a former regulator, was appointed last year as Binance reached a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities for violating sanctions and anti-money laundering regulations. He replaced CZ, Binance’s larger-than-life founder, who is currently serving a four month prison sentence in California.

My colleague Cheyenne Ligon wrote up the interview yesterday (the headline was that Binance, unlike other large crypto companies, is not currently considering an IPO). Here are some other takeaways along with some personal impressions.

Teng Is Not CZ

CZ always gave the impression of being the man in charge, the operational and spiritual leader of Binance. Teng is a different sort of CEO. He deflected questions about technology and future plans to other managers, and Teng made a point of saying that Binance was now a more decentralized company. “Today, the organization is quite different from the one CZ led. It was a founder-led organization, CZ was running it,” Teng told us. “Right now, it’s a totally different corporate structure. It’s a board-led organization. We have three independent directors on board, we have a talented crew of very senior experienced executives for day-to-day operations at the company.”

Teng was a financial regulator in his native Singapore as well the United Arab Emirates. He was appointed CEO because he understands regulation and regulators. The challenge for Binance is to convince authorities that it can be trusted on money laundering and other sensitive issues. It’s investing heavily in compliance. Teng, who has a graceful, unflappable manner, is the man for the hour.

No HQ yet

CZ famously used to say that Binance was a “global company,” by which he meant not only did it operate around the world, but really was of the world, as opposed to any one country.