Former Binance​.US CEO joins Hashdex board

Brian Brooks, former acting comptroller of the currency for the United States government, has joined the board of directors for crypto-focused asset manager Hashdex.

In a July 20 announcement, Hashdex said Brooks had become the fifth member of its board and will serve as a strategic adviser to the firm. Brooks was the chief legal officer of Coinbase from 2018 to 2020, served as acting comptroller of the currency from 2020 to 2021, worked as the CEO of Binance.US for roughly four months and was the CEO of Bitfury from October 2021 to December 2022.

Hashdex co-founder and CEO Marcelo Sampaio cited Brooks’ experience in “financial regulation and the crypto industry” in having him join the board. Brooks is currently employed as a managing partner at venture capital firm Valor Capital Group, which has previously backed crypto companies through various funding rounds.

“Crypto assets are changing the economics of nearly every industry across the globe, allowing individuals to have an ownership stake in the networks in which they participate,” said Brooks. “I look forward to helping [Hashdex] deliver on their vision of bridging the divide between traditional financial markets and the crypto economy.”

Related: US is ‘unquestionably’ behind the curve on crypto ETFs, says Brian Brooks

Brooks’ short stint as the CEO of Binance.US in 2021 — taking over from former CEO Catherine Coley — seemed to surprise many in the crypto space. He cited “differences over strategic direction” at the time, but a June filing in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Binance reportedly claimed Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao did not allow Brooks the autonomy to run the U.S. exchange.

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