In the latest indication that the mainstream finance world and crypto ecosystem are coming together, cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US has tapped former banking regulator Brian Brooks as its new CEO, effective May 1.

Why should we care?
Binance.US is the U.S. affiliate of Binance, a global company with no headquarters that runs the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume (Binance.US is a separate company from Binance). Brooks, a former Coinbase executive, is no stranger to the crypto ecosystem. In an interview, Brooks said he would prioritize making the exchange “a robust competitor to Coinbase'' and ensure the company’s commitment to regulatory compliance is implemented. In Brooks’ capacity as acting head of head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the first crypto company (Anchorage) was granted conditional approval for a banking charter. “We will quickly migrate into more value-add services and be a more diversified platform not just crypto-asset trading but of other kinds of services based on our ability to access licenses and to achieve compliance very quickly,” Brooks said. As Brooks returned to the crypto sphere, Gary Gensler was sworn in as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator is expected to weigh in on crypto, though it’s likely too early to speculate on where the chips may fall. “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have brought new thinking to payments and financial inclusion, but they’ve also raised new issues of investor protection that we still need to attend to,” Gensler said.