In the official announcement after resigning as CEO of Binance, Mr. Changpeng Zhao (CZ) admitted that he made mistakes and took responsibility for achieving the best for the company he founded.
Not long after it was reported that he was abandoning all activities at Binance under an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Mr. Changzeng Chao (CZ) made an official announcement on his personal page X (old Twitter), admitting mistake and claim responsibility.
“Today, I leave my position as CEO of Binance. Honestly, it wasn’t easy emotionally, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I made a mistake and must accept responsibility. This is the best thing for the community, for Binance as well as myself,” the Binance founder confided.
CZ also announced that the new CEO of Binance will be Mr. Richard Teng, who previously held the position of Managing Director of the company’s market areas. Mr. Zhao assessed Richard as a person with leadership qualities with more than 3 decades of working in the financial services and legal fields, suitable for the task of steering the company to reach new growth goals. Although he is no longer CEO or holds official positions in Binance, CZ said he is willing to be an advisor to the company when needed. In the immediate period, the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange will take time to rest after more than 6 and a half years of non-stop work.
According to WSJ, CZ’s resignation is part of an agreement between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Binance – the cryptocurrency exchange he founded. The deal was carried out in coordination with the DOJ and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), without involving the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
top leadership position In addition to leaving Binance, CZ will be found guilty of violating US anti-money laundering laws
Binance, DOJ, CFTC, and SEC are currently not responding to the above information.
Previously, in June 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance and founder CZ for operating an unregistered exchange and confusing investors by using Sigma Chain funds (Swiss headquarters). owned by CZ himself to artificially increase trading volume on Binance’s platform in the US.
“Through thirteen charges, we believe that Mr. Zhao and the Binance entities engaged in a vast network of fraud, conflicts of interest, lack of transparency, and intentional avoidance of the law.” , SEC Chairman Gary Gensler emphasized.
The SEC’s move comes after the CFTC sued Binance, accusing the company of offering cryptocurrency derivatives, such as futures and options, to US residents without registering as an entity. commodity futures trading.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Binance agreed to a $4 billion settlement with the DOJ. This agreement also marks the end of a US Department of Justice investigation into cryptocurrency trading activities that began around 2018. Reuters said federal prosecutors had asked Binance to hand over multiple documents and messages related to the company’s US customers in late 2020.