Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Pushed to Shutter U.S. Exchange

Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao attempted to shut down the crypto exchange’s U.S. offshoot earlier this year, showing how far he was willing to go in order to protect the much larger global exchange amid mounting regulatory scrutiny, two people familiar with the matter told The Information.

The Binance.US board of directors, for which Zhao serves as chair, held a vote on whether to liquidate the company, which had landed a $4.5 billion valuation from investors last year, but failed to achieve the unanimous support the decision required, one of the people said. Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder was the lone holdout and opposed the decision because he worried a sudden shutdown could hurt the U.S. exchange’s customers by forcing them to move or liquidate crypto quickly, the person said.