Binance.US, the U.S. subsidiary of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has appointed Stephen Gregory as chief executive, putting a compliance-focused executive at the helm as competition among U.S. cryptocurrency trading platforms intensifies.
Gregory replaced Norman Reed on March 9, the company said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. He served as the U.S. CEO of digital asset platform Currency.com and led the company during its acquisition by CXNEST in 2025. He has also held compliance leadership roles at cryptocurrency exchanges Gemini (GEMI) and CEX.io.
The change in leadership comes as the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange landscape changes. Over the past few months, trading platforms have raced to expand beyond digital assets, adding products such as tokenized stocks, prediction markets, and traditional stock trading. Some exchanges have also formed partnerships with major U.S. stock exchanges to explore trading of publicly traded stocks based on blockchain versions.
The appointment of a legal and regulatory expert comes at a time when U.S. regulation of cryptocurrency companies remains a core issue for the industry. Reed will remain with the company in an advisory role.
Gregory said the exchange’s brand remains strong and closely tied to the vision of its founders. “The Binance.US brand is very strong,” he told CoinDesk, noting that its owner Changpeng Zhao “has always advocated for the United States to be the cryptocurrency capital of the world.” He said he plans to build on this and lead the company into the next phase. Gregory added that by focusing on customer innovation, Binance.US is positioned to capitalize on emerging opportunities and expand the reach of decentralized finance and the broader “tokenized value ecosystem.”
Binance’s global platform remains the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by a wide margin. According to data from CoinGecko, the exchange’s trading volume in the past 24 hours was close to $10 billion, more than five times the volume of rival Coinbase (COIN).
The company said it plans to expand multiple parts of its business under Gregory’s leadership. Last year, it launched products such as Boost, a staking service, and an improved referral program. It plans to expand its “Earn” suite and build new gateways to connect users to decentralized finance and tokenized assets.
