According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), crypto exchange Binance had attempted to hire Gary Gensler, the current chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as an adviser in 2018 and 2019.
Gensler, who was then teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was approached by Binance’s executives, including Ella Zhang, then head of Binance’s venture investing arm, and Harry Zhou, co-founder of Binance-invested firm Koi Trading.
Despite declining the adviser position, messages from Binance’s executives suggest that Gensler was generous in sharing license strategies.
The report also highlights the relationship between Binance and its American arm, Binance.US, and how the exchange took steps to mitigate regulatory risk by setting up an American entity that would attract enforcement and regulatory inquiries.
Binance has recently been preparing to face fines and penalties to settle outstanding regulatory and law-enforcement investigations in the United States.
The exchange’s chief strategy officer, Patrick Hillmann, stated that the firm has been working with regulators to remedy past compliance issues.
Binance has invested heavily in compliance talent, processes, and technology over the past two years, increasing compliance and investigations headcount by 500% last year.
