Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive who was previously kidnapped and held in Nigeria for eight months, has expressed his willingness to serve his country once again in the fight against crypto crime under the Trump administration. As the head of financial crime compliance at Binance for the past two years, Gambaryan brings a wealth of experience, having worked as a federal agent and being part of an elite group of early crypto tracers in the federal government. This group was involved in several high-profile investigations during Trump's previous term in office. Gambaryan stated, 'While I am not a political person, some of my most significant casework occurred during the President-Elect's previous term.
If given the opportunity, it would be an honor to serve my country again and work alongside the incredible men and women in federal law enforcement who worked tirelessly to bring me back to my family.' Recommendations for Gambaryan to take on high-profile roles, such as heading crypto assets at the SEC or holding a leading position in the FBI's cyber division, have been made to the Trump transition team by individuals associated with the Bitcoin 2024 Nashville conference, including event organizer David Bailey and Tracy Hoyos-López, strategic initiatives lead at Kraken. When asked about the potential move, Binance CEO Richard Teng said, 'As of now, Tigran is still a member of our staff, so let's see what his intentions are. I'm not privy to his thought process. I'm not privy to the U.S.
administration process.' During his decade-long tenure as an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigator, Gambaryan played a crucial role in the takedown of the child sex abuse video network Welcome to Video and darknet marketplace Alpha Bay, the seizure of nearly 70,000 bitcoins stolen from the Silk Road, and the recovery of 650,000 bitcoins stolen from Mt Gox. The news of Gambaryan's detention in Nigeria sparked widespread outrage across the crypto industry and beyond, including several members of Congress.