Richard Teng on Binance’s Role in Global Regulation
Richard Teng, former regulator in Singapore and now Binance CEO, spoke to the Financial Times in a recent interview about the role the cryptocurrency exchange is playing in shaping the global regulatory environment. According to Teng, “quite a lot” of countries have approached Binance to assist in the creation of national crypto regulation frameworks.
This marks a major shift in how Binance is perceived by regulators globally. Once considered evasive and combative when it came to regulation with the US SEC, the company is now being welcomed as a strategic partner. Teng emphasized that Binance operates in a way “that regulators appreciate much more compared to the past.”
That transformation is visible in the company’s growing compliance infrastructure. Nearly 25% of Binance’s 6,000-strong workforce is now dedicated to compliance-related functions. Notably, the compliance division is led by Todd McElduff, who brings experience from both PayPal and Morgan Stanley.
Beyond policy advisory, Binance is stepping into strategic roles with national governments. Teng confirmed that the exchange is working closely with several nations on the establishment of sovereign crypto reserves. “We have actually received quite a number of approaches by a few governments and sovereign wealth funds on the establishment of their own crypto reserves,” he said.
As mentioned in our previous article, Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, recently took a key advisory role with the Pakistan Crypto Council following meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.
A Favorable Political Climate for Crypto
Teng added that “Compared to many other jurisdictions, the U.S. is way ahead on that front,” he said this referring to the country’s evolving crypto policy environment.
Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump has signed a series of executive orders signaling strong support for the crypto space. In particular, Executive Order 14178, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” laid the groundwork for a federal regulatory framework for digital assets, like stablecoins. The order also established the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets to enable federal policy in the area.
Another change was implemented through an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, using existing Bitcoin funds that the federal government possesses. Trump also signed legislation into law repealing an amended IRS rule that would have required decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to be regulated as brokers, something the crypto community universally criticized as being technically impractical and overly burdensome.
Along with these policy actions, the Trump administration has appointed crypto-friendly officials to regulatory roles. Mark Uyeda is presently the Acting Chairman of the SEC, filling in for Gary Gensler. Uyeda has formed a Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce to develop clear and innovation-friendly guidelines for digital assets.
Paul S. Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, is preparing to assume his position as the next SEC Chairman. His appointment is anticipated to lead to a more permissive stance toward crypto-related financial products, such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and tokenized securities.