Changpeng Zhao, the founder and CEO of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, announced at a press conference on Tuesday that he was looking for a candidate who could take over the management of the company from him.
"There is always a choice of candidates who could replace me. We are looking for someone with deep knowledge in the field of regulation so that he can take over and become CEO," Zhao said.
At the same time, he noted that the company does not limit the terms of the search, and he himself will not leave his post immediately.
"I will always contribute to Binance and to the BNB ecosystem. I don't have to be a CEO to do this," Zhao added.
Over the past few months, the authorities of several countries have issued warnings about the unregulated status of Binance. Zhao said that it would be "an honor for him to manage Binance as a regulated financial institution" and that he would not leave the exchange, despite the actions of regulators, until he finds a better leader than himself.
During the current process of transforming Binance "from a technology startup into a financial institution", the company intends to open several regional headquarters so that its structure is more understandable for local regulators.
"It is quite difficult for regulators to understand our structure. For example, such simple things as the absence of a head office. Now we want to open several headquarters in different parts of the world. We have not yet decided where exactly they will be located, " Zhao said.
He also admitted that in the past Binance interacted with regulators "not in the best way", but now plans to hire former employees of the relevant departments and " become regulated everywhere."
Zhao spoke about similar plans last week:
"Now I am looking for a senior manager with deep knowledge in the field of legal compliance and regulation, who would lead the entire organization, possibly become the new CEO of Binance. I am an entrepreneur from the technology industry. I managed the company for four years, and everything was fine, but we need to make this reshuffle. I don't think I'm the best person to lead this initiative. I think it's better that someone with more serious experience in regulation does this."