shoop°

After five years as CFO of Binance, I have decided to go build something of my own. The past ten years in the digital asset exchange space have felt surprisingly short, because I enjoyed what I was doing. Having passion for what you do is so important, and I will come back to this point.  8am to 2am became a work habit. When I felt exhausted past midnight, I would just look up at the Kobe Bryant's statue standing in the corner of my office, and go right back to the grind! It has been the privilege of my career to help steward the finances of the world's largest digital asset exchange through a period that tested our industry in every way: bull and bear cycles, Operation Choke Point 2.0, and a regulatory landscape that evolved as quickly as the technology itself. Finance is seldom the loudest function in a company, but it is where trust is earned. Over these five years, we transformed Finance from a pure back-office function into one that consistently generates new ideas and revenue opportunities for the company. We became amazing problem solvers.  Finance understood the products and metrics as well as the business units themselves.  Proud of what we have built together, and I am pleased to hand the keys to Justin, our next CFO. I want to take this opportunity to thank CZ, Yi, Richard, and the leadership team for their confidence and, above all, the amazing Binancians around the world whom I had the honor of working with. You are the reason the company stands where it does today. Binance is in very capable hands. The company continues to grow and evolve with the successful launch of TradFi assets and AI-powered user interfaces. I’d like to express my gratitude to MGX for the trust; to our home regulator Abu Dhabi Global Market and all regulators we work closely with; and to our business partners, including BlackRock, Circle, Franklin Templeton, Mastercard, our banking partners and payment channels, as well as our advisors and auditors. Special thanks to Grant Thornton Singapore and everyone who has supported Binance. As for what comes next, well, there isn't just one project but several that I am passionate about particularly in sports and entertainment, from basketball and music, to GPUs, robotics, gold and collectibles. Bringing these real-world assets onto the blockchain through tokenization is a massive opportunity for the industry, and a big unlock for everyone.  I welcome anyone with a passion in these areas to message me and potentially join my team.  Even better if you love Kobe ;) Moving from the CFO's chair to the founder's is a leap, and I take it with humility. I deeply believe it is where I can make a greater contribution to AI and Web3. For now, thank you, Binance, for five remarkable years.