Brian Brooks is dipping his toe into crypto once again—and has joined the board of crypto-focused asset manager Hashdex.
It comes almost two years after the executive abruptly stepped down as Binance.US CEO just four months into the job—citing "differences over strategic direction."
His ill-fated stint in the role wasn't mentioned in Hashdex's news release, which instead decided to focus on his time as Coinbase's chief legal officer, and acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency.
Brian Brooks Resigns as Binance US CEO After Three Months
Brian Brooks, the former general counsel of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase who went on to serve as Acting Comptroller of the Currency, has stepped down as Binance.US CEO after taking over in May. In a tweet today, Brooks announced the news and wrote: "Despite differences over strategic direction, I wish my former colleagues much success. Exciting new things to come!" Greetings #crypto community. Letting you all know that I have resigned as CEO of @BinanceUS . Despite differences over st...
Brooks has most recently served as a partner in Valor Capital Group, which has invested in Hashdex. As well as acting as Valor's representative on the board, the entrepreneur is set to provide counsel on global regulation "to accelerate Hashdex's continued growth in global markets"—and help institutional investors securely gain exposure to digital assets.
He will also be tasked with bridging the gap between the crypto ecosystem and traditional finance—at a time when U.S. regulators are embarking on a brutal clampdown. Just this week, Ritchie Torres, the New York Democrat Congressman openly accused Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler of being "intent on sabotaging the industry."
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New York Democrat Congressman Ritchie Torres doubled down on his recent criticisms of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler, accusing the SEC chair of being "intent on sabotaging the industry." Speaking at the Christie’s auctionhouse’s Art + Tech Summit, Torres reiterated his comparison of Gensler to "an overzealous traffic cop who excessively takes drivers and accuses them of speeding without telling them the speeding limit,” adding that the SEC was engaging in a “regulati...
In a news release, Hashdex co-founder Marcelo Sampaio said Brooks' "proven ability to push forward thoughtful, innovation-driven public is much needed at this time."
"Brian's extensive experience as a leader in financial regulation and the crypto industry will help Hashdex meet our core mission of giving investors simple and secure access to the developing crypto ecosystem," he added.
Despite the recent market turmoil, Brooks was quoted as saying that "cryptoassets are changing the economics of nearly every industry across the globe."
Hashdex is based in Brazil—and hit headlines when it received approval to launch the first cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Latin America.
Brazil’s Hashdex to Launch DeFi ETF—The Sixth Crypto ETF in Brazilian Market
Crypto asset manager Hashdex today announced that it has received approval to launch what the company is describing as the “world's first” DeFi ETF. Developed in collaboration with cryptocurrency index provider CF Benchmarks, Hashdex's new CF DeFi Index ETF—which will trade under the ticker DEFI11—will track the price of the CF Benchmark's DeFi Modified Composite Index. That index will itself track a basket of 12 tokens linked to the DeFi market, with Ethereum, Uniswap, AMP, and Curve making up...
The battle for a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. continues, but Hashdex's CIO Samir Kerbage recently pointed to BlackRock's filing with the SEC as a bullish development.
"The adoption of crypto assets has been steadily accelerating over the last few years—a secular trend that continues," he wrote in a blog on the asset manager's website.
Hashdex will be hoping that Brooks' arrival adds to this momentum.
