Former Comptroller of the Currency and Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks had been announced as the new CEO of crypto (BTC) mining firm BitFury.
According to an announcement on Nov. 4 from Bitfury, Brooks was appointed last Friday and he will now lead the firm as it prepares for a new funding round. Bitfury founder and former CEO Valery Vavilov will serve as Chief Vision Officer and the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
“Mr. Brooks will lead the 10-year-old crypto unicorn as it launches a new funding round, increases the growth of its mining business with a revolutionary new microchip design and new global data center locations, and scales a portfolio of innovative businesses,” the breathless announcement read.
Bitfury’s last funding round has occurred in 2018 where it raised $80 million at a valuation of $1 billion. Prior to this role, Brooks has worked at Binance’s U.S. branch for a mere three months before resigning in August this year. Many onlookers speculated that the decision was due to prior knowledge about regulatory issues plaguing the firm.
Brooks also worked as Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer between 2018 and 2020 and is well-liked amongst the crypto community due to his strongly pro-crypto stance while serving as the Acting Comptroller of the Currency.
During his time at the agency between May 2020 to January 2021, Brooks oversaw the enactment of the fintech banking charter that enabled fintech firms and crypto companies to offer lending and payment products without oversight from state banking regulators.
“Brian is a respected executive and thought leader with deep regulatory, digital asset and capital markets expertise who shares Bitfury’s vision for a decentralized peer-to-peer economy,” Vavilov said.
Bitfury was established in 2011 and is one of the largest companies in the blockchain sector. It operates mobile data centers and provides a wide range of services such as crypto mining hardware design, software, and artificial intelligence products.
