Binance Flexes Compliance Credentials, but This Time with CZ’s Support

The world’s largest crypto exchange is using the Florida event to show how far its regulatory programme has come since the US Department of Justice slammed it in 2023 for putting growth and profits ahead of compliance. By dispatching its most senior legal and policy executives – many with backgrounds at US prosecutors’ offices and UK regulators – rather than US-focused commercial staff, Binance is sending a clear message: compliance is now a top-down, company-wide priority.

Strategic push amid scrutiny

We’ve seen a version of this before. In the wake of its 2023 run-in with the Feds, the exchange went on a compliance push, which included bringing on highly regarded regulatory official Richard Teng as chief executive and seeking to distance itself from founder and former CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao who was caught up in the scandal, serving months in prison and paying a $50mn fine.

Those efforts to try to rebuild trust with institutional investors suffered a major setback in April after media reports and scrutiny from a group of US senators over alleged Iran-linked flows worth around $1.7bn. The company has pushed back hard, denying key claims and suing the Wall Street Journal.

So now, with institutional money gushing into crypto, Binance leadership has redoubled efforts to prove the platform is now ready for serious institutional capital, particularly as the US regulatory climate becomes more favourable. The strategy marks a sharp break from Binance’s earlier playbook – a privately held giant that grew explosively by prioritizing retail users over compliance infrastructure.

Substantial compliance investment

Under Teng’s leadership, Binance has built one of the largest dedicated oversight programmes in crypto, with more than 1,500 people now working in compliance or related roles. The company spends a minimum of $200mn a year in this area and has poured significant resources into proprietary artificial intelligence models to strengthen monitoring and react swiftly to emerging risks.

The exchange has publicly reported slashing sanctions-related exposure by nearly 97% since early 2024, with direct exposure to Iranian exchanges dropping by a similar margin.

Compliance as competitive advantage

These investments are now central to Binance’s business strategy. The spending has helped secure key licences, including the full FSRA authorization in Abu Dhabi for its global .com platform, and opened doors to partnerships with traditional finance giants.

The exchange serves around 350mn users and is pushing toward a one-billion-user target, chasing growth through both bull and bear markets. It has actively backed major US legislation, including the FIT21 Act, the proposed CLARITY Act for market structure and the GENIUS Act for stablecoins, arguing they are vital for giving institutions the regulatory certainty they need.

On a panel at Consensus, Steven McWhirter, Binance’s global policy lead, neatly sidestepped questions about whether the firm plans to launch a US dollar-pegged token, saying only that "we would never jump to a quick decision."

In addition to the policy and compliance officers, a review of the event’s networking app showed at least four senior Binance representatives on site, including chief marketing officer Rachel Conlan and Binance US Chief Legal Officer Dan Wong. Notably, CEO Teng was absent from the event.

Complicating the narrative that the exchange has changed its ways, Binance co-founder and former CEO CZ made a surprise in-person appearance on the main stage on the final day after his talk was switched from virtual at short notice. His presence brought home a central paradox in the charm offensive: while Binance is aggressively projecting a polished, institutional-grade image, its most recognizable figure – still synonymous with the exchange’s earlier, regulation-light era – continues to dominate the spotlight. His appearance in the flesh is significant: CZ was pardoned by President Trump last year. CZ maintains that his case – in which he pleaded guilty – involved compliance control failures rather than money laundering activity per se. 

This prominent showing at Consensus 2026 reflects a broader shift toward proactive engagement with the crypto community, beyond commercial meetings. The company’s own conference in Dubai in December 2025 saw executives take to the stage to pass messages about adhering to government rules and volunteer statements in interviews about the depth of employees’ knowledge of compliance.

Under CEO Teng, Binance has built a formidable compliance operation. But will the return to centre stage of CZ, the exchange’s most visible – and controversial – figure, help or hinder efforts to convince institutional money that the operation is the industry gold standard it purports to be?