Binance, a blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, announced the appointment of Tigran Gambaryan and Matthew Price. Both are former Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Cybercrime Unit (IRS-CI).
Gambaryan joins Binance as Vice President of Global Intelligence and Investigations after spending a decade at IRS-CI. As a Special Agent, Gambaryan investigates cases involving national security, terrorism financing, identity theft, distribution of child pornography, tax evasion, and breaches of bank secrecy.
Gambaryan led several multi-million dollar cyber investigations, including the Silk Road corruption investigation, the BTC-e bitcoin exchange, and the Mt. Gox. Meanwhile Price joined Binance as a Senior Director of Investigations with 15 years of experience in law enforcement and intelligence.
He has led investigations into cybercrime, money laundering and financial crimes as well as efforts to reduce counterterrorism and counterintelligence threats.
Prior to serving as Special Agent at IRS-CI, Matthew led international cyber investigations targeting bad actors seeking to exploit cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes. He is also Helix's principal investigator---the first successful investigation and prosecution of an illegal bitcoin service operating on the darknet.
The announcement comes shortly after the appointments of former Europol specialist Nils Andersen-Röed and former Mariposa County crime detective in California, Aron Akbiyikian, who also led investigations at Chainalysis and TRM Labs before joining Binance.
"Binance's current investigative team is made up of a mix of the world's top investigators who have been involved in some of the most significant cyber investigations in history and their track record is unmatched," said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao 'CZ, in a statement received by us.
Led by Binance Chief Security Officers Jimmy Su and Gambaryan, the audit and investigation team will focus on internal and external investigations to prevent financial threats and losses while continuing to work closely with law enforcement agencies and regulators around the world.
"We will work closely with our partners in compliance to identify criminals and prosecute them. The ever-growing crypto industry requires strong collaboration between industry, law enforcement and regulators. Our goal is to increase trust in cryptocurrencies by making Binance as a major contributor in the fight against human trafficking, ransomware and terrorism financing," said Gambaryan.
"I want to reassure the law enforcement community around the world how Binance is ready to be a partner in the fight against illegal use of crypto, maintain a safer crypto ecosystem, and advance it sustainably."
