In an announcement on Thursday, Binance confirmed the long-term serving U.S. government official would provide legal advice and a bridge to regulators with Binance. The seasoned government official served under President Obama as an ambassador to China from 2014 to 2017. He previously represented Minnesota in Senate for nearly four decades leading the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and the Joint Committee on Taxation and Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

This appointment looks to open the doors for U.S. customers to start enjoying the crypto services offered by Binance. U.S. customers are banned from the main website due to regulatory constraints. To solve this issue, Binance launched a U.S.-only trading service, Binance US, which only offers 54 crypto-assets (compared to Binance’s 340) and lacks derivatives trading.

Baucus showed his admiration for blockchain tech and crypto space in his acceptance statement, stating they have the “potential to drive a revolution in how money is managed.” He further said,

“Binance is one of the largest organizations involved in bringing these to the mainstream, and it’s a privilege to assist in appropriately navigating the complex political and regulatory frameworks that hold the key to enabling wider adoption.”

In a statement obtained by Decrypt, Binance CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stated that Baucus’ previous government roles would enhance Binance compliance requirements and policies. He furthers states that his “intimate understanding of global regulation brings exceptional value to Binance.”

Moving away from the positives, Binance was one of the three crypto exchanges that saw their Weibo (Chinese Twitter) social accounts locked on Thursday morning. While the social app did not explain the lockout, it appears it was a targeted act on crypto exchanges.

Weibo only stated the companies had violated laws and community rules, leading to its accounts' closure. As one of the largest crypto trading platforms in China, Binance closure has rattled many investors across the country and led to a sharp retracement in Bitcoin’s price to $57,000, as of writing.

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