Binance top executive Tigran Gambaryan may take a senior position in the new Trump administration

What’s new? Binance top executive Tigran Gambaryan has been recommended for several high-level positions in the new US government, such as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) crypto assets division and head of the FBI’s cyber division. According to CoinDesk’s sources, the recommendations came from people associated with the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville which Donald Trump attended, including event organizer David Bailey and Kraken exchange’s head of strategic initiatives Tracy Hoyos-Lopez.

CoinDesk material

What else is known? Gambaryan spent 10 years as an investigator for the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and played a central role in shutting down child sex abuse video platform Welcome to Video and darknet marketplace Alpha Bay, as well as seizing 70 000 bitcoins stolen from darknet marketplace Silk Road and recovering 650 000 bitcoins stolen from the now-bankrupt Mt Gox exchange.

Gambaryan was one of the first blockchain researchers in the federal government during Donald Trump’s first term as president, and for the past two years, he has been the head of Binance’s financial crime unit.

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Last February, he was detained in Nigeria when he arrived for talks with authorities regarding possible exchange wrongdoing and spent eight months in prison, where his health deteriorated significantly.

Gambaryan’s detention sparked outrage among crypto industry participants and congressmen. At the time, 16 members of Congress called on President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to treat Gambaryan’s arrest as a hostage-taking and facilitate his swift release. More than a hundred ex-prosecutors later sent a similar letter to Blinken.

In October, the Nigerian authorities in view of diplomatic intervention dropped all charges against Gambaryan, the only defendant in the case of laundering of $34,4 million remains Binance itself. In another lawsuit, local authorities also accuse the exchange of tax evasion.

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In a comment to CoinDesk, Gambaryan noted that he does not get involved in politics, but some of his most important investigations were conducted during Trump’s first term.

“If given the opportunity, it would be an honor to serve my country again and work alongside the incredible men and women in federal law enforcement who worked tirelessly to bring me back to my family,” the top executive stressed.

Binance CEO Richard Teng said that Gambaryan is currently on the exchange’s payroll and has not announced any plans to transition.