Richard Teng: Binance Has Pivoted to "Global Infrastructure" and the "Most Regulated Exchange Globally"

Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng said the company has undergone a drastic transformation since he joined in August 2021, pivoting from a crypto-native exchange to a global, multi-jurisdiction financial infrastructure platform — without losing the cultural traits that built it. Speaking at Binance Online on May 13, Teng said the leadership's most important ongoing decision is preserving what he called Binance's foundational DNA. "The important, conscientious decision that Binance leadership management make on a day-to-day basis is to maintain the DNA of Binance, which is extremely important — keeping Binance user-focused, user-first, being very hardcore, being very collaborative. Those are the unique DNAs that continue to make us successful." Beyond culture, Teng pointed to a structural shift in how the company operates. "If you look at the talent density, we have transformed. If you look at the organization structure, we have transformed drastically," he said. "We have pivoted very strongly to become a global infrastructure. We have pivoted very strongly to be the most regulated exchange globally." He said the pivot required new categories of talent across functions traditionally absent in crypto-native firms. "We need many more talents across TradFi, regulator functions, control functions, and of course all of our front office functions, from marketing to business development." For Teng, the result is a company that has scaled across asset classes and jurisdictions while protecting what made it work in the first place. "It's very exciting to see the company continue to keep its core DNA and strength, while at the same time being able to pivot and become something that continues to grow multi-jurisdiction, multi-asset class."