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Binance.US names CFO as it gears up for IPO

The crypto broker hasn't slowed its roll for crypto winter.

A photo of Binance.US Chief Financial Officer Jasmine Lee

Binance.US Chief Financial Officer Jasmine Lee

Photo: Binance.US

Binance.US has named a new CFO, sending a strong signal that the crypto company is gearing up to go public. Jasmine Lee, who previously served as CFO and chief operating officer at Acorns, will lead Binance.US' finance department as the company prepares for an IPO in two to three years, the company said Thursday.

“I feel incredibly lucky to join [this] team at such an exciting time to focus on accelerating our growth trajectory and beginning our journey to IPO,” Lee, who was also CFO and COO of PayPal’s consumer product group, told Protocol in an email.

The appointment comes at a time when Binance.US, the U.S. partner of the world’s biggest crypto marketplace, is navigating a severe downturn, which saw the cryptocurrency market shed $2 trillion in value in the last seven months.

But CEO Brian Shroder told Protocol the company is facing the “crypto winter in a position of strength,” which has enabled Binance.US to continue growing while preparing for a public offering.

In announcing Lee’s appointment, Shroder highlighted her experience at PayPal, which he noted is “a public Fortune 500 company,” which he said will be “invaluable as we chart our path to an IPO in the coming years.”

Binance.US is not technically an arm of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. Instead, it's operated by BAM Trading Services, a Palo Alto company, which licenses the Binance name and technology.

Binance.US has been working to raise its profile in Washington recently, leaving the Blockchain Association trade group in favor of setting up its own lobbying operation.

Benjamin Pimentel

Benjamin Pimentel ( @benpimentel) covers crypto and fintech from San Francisco. He has reported on many of the biggest tech stories over the past 20 years for the San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch and Business Insider, from the dot-com crash, the rise of cloud computing, social networking and AI to the impact of the Great Recession and the COVID crisis on Silicon Valley and beyond. He can be reached at bpimentel@protocol.com or via Google Voice at (925) 307-9342.

cryptocurrencybinance.usipomarket crashcryptobinancejasmine lee
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