CZ (Changpeng Zhao) has resigned following a $4 billion plea with the US Justice Department that allows him to plead guilty to the charges against him including operating an exchange without a license, failing to screen users in a way that met anti-money laundering requirements, and using a Swiss based fund he 'secretly' owned to increase Binance's trading volume.

In exchange for the money, he faces no additional punishments - except that he step down as the company CEO.  Binance can continue to operate, and CZ will still play an active role as the company founder and owner.

It really makes you wonder, was Binance ever truly such a bad company, committing serious legal violations earning them billions of dollars in illegitimate profits - it seems odd that the solution that resolved everything was simply to give the government some of those illegitimate profits, and magically the Justice Department forgives everything - even trusting them moving forward as Binance simply puts this all behind them and continues operating.

The only big change resulting from all this is CZ realizing a company with a CEO who pled guilty could cause problems for Binance in several countries they operate in, so he's handed the role over to an someone he's worked closely with, Richard Teng.

Some say it's a meaningless change if CZ will still be in the office, and everyone, including the new CEO forever sees him as the 'boss' - but it's too early for anyone to know how this will play out in the real world.

Either way, there's a lot of people asking - who exactly is Richard Teng, the new Binance CEO/

Teng is a corporate finance specialist with more than 30 years of experience. His professional performance has led him to focus particularly on the regulatory requirements of the financial industry.

Teng graduated in accounting from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She subsequently received her master's degree in finance from the University of Western Australia and concluded her formal academic training with a leadership program at the University of Pennsylvania, United States.

According to data provided by Teng himself, he held several business leadership positions. For example, he directed the Regulatory Group of the SGX company between 2007 and 2015 . This works in conjunction with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. His task was to formulate policies and regulatory frameworks in everything related to the areas of securities listing, trading and clearing. He was also involved in developing regulatory solutions for new products and services.

Teng also led the financial center Abu Dhabi Global Market , was a member of the advisory board of the Singapore Blockchain Association and participated as an advisor to the Global Fintech Institute.

Since August 2021, this finance and regulation specialist has been working for the Binance exchange . He began his career at the company led by Changpeng Zhao as CEO of Singapore operations and moved through various positions since then. Until a few hours ago he served as head of Regional Markets.

Former CEO CZ Explains Why he Chose Teng to Take Over His Role...

Saying in a statement that “Richard is a highly qualified leader and, with more than three decades of financial services and regulatory experience, will guide the company through its next period of growth. He will ensure Binance delivers on our next phase of security, transparency, compliance and growth.”

Minutes following the announcement Teng wrote a statement on his X feed saying:

"It is an honor, and with the deepest humility I assume the role of new CEO of Binance" his writing begins, adding that "the foundation on which Binance stands today is more solid than ever" 

In a statement that feels directed towards the very government regulators that have been critical of Binance, he says: “To ensure a bright future, I intend to use everything I have learned over the past three decades of financial services and regulatory experience to guide our extraordinary, innovative and committed team.

Teng Believes Regulations are "an essential requirement" for crypto to reach mass adoption...

But he is critical of the current state of regulations around crypto, saying "Unfortunately, one of the factors slowing down the global growth of cryptocurrencies is the lack of legal standardization. Some regulators define cryptocurrency as a security, while others define it as a commodity. Some consider it a digital payment token, while others treat it as a virtual asset."

Unfortunately, as long as those currently in power remain in power, there's little hope clarity will come to the currently confusing regulatory landscape.  The modern crypto-CEO needs to be prepared to have one government agency tell them crypto is not bound by a particular set of regulations, then find out they're supposedly in violation of those same regulation when a different agency sues them. 

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Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
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