Source: Exame
Original Title: Change in the US Forces Countries to Reposition Themselves in Crypto, Says Binance CEO
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Cryptocurrency Market Undergoing Profound Transformation

The cryptocurrency market is undergoing a profound transformation, marked by increasing mainstream adoption and maturity. That’s the assessment of Richard Teng, CEO of a leading cryptocurrency exchange, in an interview during Blockchain Week, held in Dubai.

Teng took over as CEO of the exchange in 2023, after closing an agreement with the United States that ended an investigation into violations of anti-money laundering and terrorism laws. Since then, the executive has led the exchange’s efforts in complying with regulatory requirements.

The CEO says that “the past two years have flown by,” and not just for the company. “The industry has matured, it has been embraced by institutions, there’s been a mainstreaming of crypto, with strong market support. Two years ago, no one imagined there would be ETFs or institutions like BlackRock embracing crypto. A lot has changed.”

The Role of the United States

According to Teng, one of the main changes during this period came from the United States, which “went from an anti-crypto stance to wanting to be the world capital of crypto.” The executive highlights a chain reaction from this move: “This forces countries to reposition themselves and to look to the US as an example. It forces others to reconsider their position on the issue.”

A major step highlighted by the CEO was the signing of the Genius Act, a bill specifically for the regulation of stablecoins. Before that, there was the approval of bitcoin and ether ETFs in 2024. The executive sees momentum in the sector that should increase next year, thanks to growing adoption by traditional institutions.

Even so, he also sees challenges in the sector. “There are still many misconceptions about crypto in financial institutions, in the traditional world. They think crypto is used for money laundering, but that isn’t supported by the facts. The use of crypto in crimes drops year after year, and it’s a fraction of what happens in the financial world.”

“Money laundering in the traditional market moves $2 trillion a year, and crypto is a tiny slice of that. Cryptocurrencies have traceable technology, but still face this misconception,” he emphasized. In this scenario, the executive believes that it’s necessary to further increase educational efforts about the sector.

Outlook for 2026

The CEO also highlights two areas that should continue to grow in 2026: payments and tokenization. “The major use cases for crypto will keep gaining momentum,” he projects. In the case of the exchange, Teng cites intense institutionalization in recent years, which continues to seek new markets and expand in current markets.

Teng sees Latin America as a “region with accelerated growth and a lot of diversity in use cases, such as store of value, investment diversification, payments. Each region has its own needs, and we need to understand that better. If we look at the 20 countries with the highest crypto adoption, three are in Latin America. And Brazil alone went from the 10th to the 5th position. That’s major growth, and we’re excited to support users in the region.”

Despite the advances highlighted by Teng, the CEO avoided giving more concrete signs about a possible IPO by the exchange. He emphasized, however, “that any major corporate positioning needs to be taken seriously.”

“These are things that need to be discussed with shareholders and with an assessment of what makes sense for us to do. But, at the management level, we want to build the best platform to serve our users, with the best products and the highest security. For now, our focus is on attracting the next billion crypto users,” he says.