Brian Brooks, the former head of the Office of Comptroller of Currency under the Trump administration would be taking over as the CEO of Binance.US, as per the company’s latest announcement. Brooks would be replacing Catherine Coley who had led the American subsidiary of the largest crypto exchange since its launch a couple of years ago.
Binance Hires Former Top Bank Regulator Brian Brooks, an acting head of Office of the Comptroller of the Currency under Trump, will become CEO of @BinanceUS. Congrats @BrianBrooksOCC, @cz_binance and @BinanceUS! I look forward to find ways to collaborate.https://t.co/5Oh1CfA8yL
— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) April 20, 2021
Brooks was also affectionately called “CryptoComptroller” because of his progressive stance towards digital assets. His recent appointment as the head of Binance.US is believed to be influenced by the exchange’s push for expansion in the US. Before Brook’s appointment, Binance had also onboarded two former top FATF regulators as its compliance and regulatory advisors.
Binance is counted among the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, however, due to regulatory clampdowns it had to stop offering direct services to customers which led to the formation of Binance.US, the stand-alone subsidiary of the crypto exchange aimed at catering to the needs of US customers.
Binance Looking to Expand in the US Without Facing Clampdowns
The largest crypto exchange outside the US does not have similar success with Binance.US which is evident from the slew of appointments mostly former top regulators and government officials in a bid to overcome the regulatory woes. Recently the exchange also came under CFTC investigation for offering leverage trading to the US customers.
The US crypto regulations have evolved, however, it is still considered quite complex as different regions have different rules adding to the woes of foreign exchanges such as Binance.
The success of Coinbase and its subsequent public listing on Nasdaq recently could also be a key reason to expand in the US. The crypto exchange is quite popular in the Asia-Pacific region but aims to dominate the US market as well.
