Changpeng Zhao, known across crypto as CZ, posted on X at 3:36 p.m. UTC on November 21, 2023, that he had stepped down as chief executive of Binance1. He named Richard Teng, then Binance's global head of regional markets, as his successor the same post. CoinDesk reported the same day that Zhao's exit followed his guilty plea to U.S. criminal charges tied to Binance's anti-money-laundering controls2.
The third CEO exit at Binance on the record since 2021
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Binance, by year
- 2023: 8
- 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2025 | 1 |
| 2026 | 1 |
11 CEO exits on the record in 2023
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2023: 11
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 11 |
| 2024 | 20 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 18 |
The move
“Today, I stepped down as CEO of Binance. Admittedly, it was not easy to let go emotionally. But I know it is the right thing to do. I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself,” Zhao wrote1. He added that Binance "is no longer a baby" and that "it is time for me to let it walk and run". Zhao kept one line open to the company, pledging to “remain available to the team to consult as needed, consistent with the framework set out in our U.S. agency resolutions”. He described his future plans as modest, calling himself content "being an one-shot (lucky) entrepreneur" with a career as a startup chief executive now behind him.
CoinDesk reported that Zhao's departure came after the United States charged Binance with breaking sanctions and money-transmitting laws, a case the company settled for $4.3 billion2. Teng had joined Binance as chief executive of its Singapore business in August 2021 before rising to oversee its regional markets outside the United States in June 2023, CoinDesk reported. Binance representatives declined to confirm Teng's new role to CoinDesk at the time the story published.
Binance before and after
Teng's background sat on the regulatory side of the business. Before joining Binance, he ran the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market, served as chief regulatory officer of the Singapore Exchange, and spent 13 years at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, CoinDesk reported2. Asked in June 2023 whether he was being groomed to take the helm, Teng told CoinDesk the idea would be "premature" to discuss. Zhao, for his part, had led Binance since co-founding it in 2017, building it into the largest crypto exchange by volume.
The settlement terms read, in Zhao's account, as a kind of vindication. He wrote that U.S. agencies in their resolutions “do not allege that Binance misappropriated any user funds, and do not allege that Binance engaged in any market manipulation”1.
What came next
Teng has run Binance for nearly three years since. Fortune reported on September 22, 2026, that Binance, with Teng now titled co-chief executive, had invested $100 million in Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, as part of a five-year partnership to expand USDC's global reach3. Binance bought Circle shares at a 5 percent discount and agreed to hold them for up to two years under the deal. “Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said the $100 million investment reflects the exchange's 'long-duration conviction' in Circle,” Fortune wrote.
Sources
- CZ, post announcing his resignation as Binance CEO and naming Richard Teng as successor, X, November 21, 2023, https://x.com/cz_binance/status/1727063503125766367
- Ian Allison, "After CZ Quits as Binance CEO, Richard Teng Looks Like the Heir Apparent," CoinDesk, November 21, 2023, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/11/21/after-cz-quits-as-binance-ceo-richard-teng-looks-like-the-heir-apparent
- "Binance invests $100 million in one-time rival Circle and expands its USDC partnership," Fortune Crypto, September 22, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilAFBVV95cUxOeXBrWl9UMExmb1VieWdSc2h5Y2JVQUtTRmlrcS1MUVpEaVphckEwLVZSbThWc3NMT3FuTFVZa0J5Q3phcjkydjlfbHpicEU1d29wUDhCRGNwS05FcmxpbGJ2MU5PZWV4d2UyS0RRb1loR3JhV1drcDZmLVFwRFVDRmFyU29BWkJKb0tlQUt3cFFYNXRZ?oc=5