Brian Brooks, who served as the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States during the Donald Trump administration, resigned as CEO of Binance.US on August 6.
The information was released by Brian Brooks himself through a tweet he published a few hours ago. Although the message does not delve into the reasons for leaving the position, it indicates that there are differences in terms of the strategic direction of the platform. He also takes the opportunity to express his good wishes for the team.
Brooks’s departure was confirmed shortly after in the official Binance.US account on the same social network, in which the following words of the former executive, without explaining the reasons for the resignation:
I continue to trust the business of Binance.US and its commitment to serve your customers and innovation. As one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, Binance.US is poised to continue to grow and power the future of finance.
The note clarifies to the public that the transition will not affect either customers or the operation of Binance.US and adds that the company “will continue to provide the best products and services ».
The news took many community members by surprise, considering that Brooks had taken over as director of Binance.US just over three months ago .
As reported by CriptoNoticias, in April of this year his appointment was announced. At the time, the new executive, who was also a Coinbase executive, said he was “eager to work with industry players and legislators to develop an enduring regulatory framework that allows Americans to reap the benefits of decentralized finance.”
In an interview with Forbes published a few weeks ago, the executive said he had an expansive vision for Binance.US, which went far beyond operating a cryptocurrency exchange. He also highlighted the efforts he was going to make to create greater platform independence.
Brooks served as the currency’s controller from May 2020 to January 2021 , when the term of Donald Trump ended. During that time, he was interested in creating a favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies. Hence, he became known in the ecosystem as part of the select group of US regulators who show their support for bitcoin.
Another change in Binance amidst obstacles experienced in various countries
The ex-controller’s departure from Binance.US occurs in a context in which Binance -the exchange with the highest volume of commercialization in the world- has some operational problems beyond the United States , particularly in several European countries such as United Kingdom and Italy.
At the beginning of July, this media reported that the exchange site faced regulatory obstacles in six countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Cayman Islands, Japan, China and Malaysia.
In that sense, it is worth remembering that Binance.US is a platform that is part of the group but that operates only in the United States . It was created in 2019 to exclusively serve that market. The intention of Binance was to adapt to the regulations of that country, given the difficulties that arose at the regulatory level.
Now, the crisis generated by the regulatory obstacles that emerge in other latitudes leads to the global company to seek the services of a new CEO. The successful candidate will replace Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”), founder and leader of the platform. The company intends to hire a person with more experience in regulatory matters, in order to respond to the pressures it is receiving in all these countries.
