Binance Exec Tigran Gambaryan Leaves Firm, Months After Nigerian Hostage Crisis

Binance Head of Financial Crime Compliance Tigran Gambaryan is departing the crypto exchange where he spent four years investigating illicit finance and cybercrimes, he said Friday in a Linkedin post, just a few months after escaping a harrowing eight-month-long detention in Nigeria. 

In the social media post, Gambaryan, a former IRS agent, shared that he is on the lookout for “new challenges.” He intends to pursue job opportunities in the public sector or at a mission-driven institution in the private sector, according to the post. 

“I’ve done all that I can at Binance, and need to refocus my time and efforts towards new challenges,” Gambaryan wrote Friday.

The executive did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for additional comment on his departure.  

Gambaryan joined Binance in 2021, building a team of roughly 100 former prosecutors, federal agents and other law enforcement experts to “align Binance more closely with U.S. and international enforcement standards,” he said. Under his leadership, the trading platform responded to more than 57,000 law enforcement requests. 

Gambryan’s departure marks the latest of several leadership changes at the world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes. 

In  2023, Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stepped down from his post as part of a plea deal with U.S. authorities over anti-money laundering law violations and international sanctions breaches, among other legal skirmishes. Around that time, several other executives split from the trading platform, including former chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann and former senior vice president of compliance Steven Christie. 

In total, at least 16 Binance executives have parted ways with the global trading firm over the past two years. 

Their departures came ahead of the appointment of CZ’s successor—Binance CEO Richard Teng’s appointment. Under Teng, a former regulator, the crypto exchange has cultivated a more buttoned-up, corporate culture, marking a total about-face from its shadowy roots.  

Gambaryan graced national and international headlines in 2024, when Nigerian law enforcement detained him on a series of allegations related to his role at Binance. However, the executive secured his release from prison last fall, after his health deteriorated during his confinement.

He has since represented Binance at several crypto conferences, recounting his ordeal in Nigeria. 

“There’s a growing need for trusted, experienced operators, people who understand how to translate between technology, enforcement, and compliance, “Gambaryan said in his post. “That’s where I intend to continue making a difference.”

Edited by James Rubin