Tigran Gambaryan, the Binance executive who was kidnapped and illegally imprisoned in Nigeria for eight months, said he would be honored to serve his country again, if asked to do so, fighting cryptocrimes under the new Trump administration.
Gambaryan, who has been head of financial crimes compliance at Binance for the past two years, is a former federal agent and part of an elite group of early cryptocurrency trackers in the federal government, which included some high-profile investigations during Trump’s last term. in office.
“While I am not a political person, some of my biggest cases occurred during the president-elect’s previous term,” Gambaryan told Coindesk via email. “If given the opportunity, I would be honored to serve my country again and work alongside the incredible men and women of federal law enforcement who worked tirelessly to bring me back to my family.”
Gambaryan has been recommended for several high-profile positions, such as head of crypto assets at the SEC or a leadership position in the FBI’s cyber division. The recommendations to Trump’s transition team come from people associated with the Nashville Bitcoin 2024 conference that Trump attended, such as event organizer David Bailey and Tracy Hoyos-López, leaders of strategic initiatives at Kraken, according to people familiar. with the matter.
Bailey and Hoyos-López declined to comment. Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
When asked about the possible move, Binance CEO Richard Teng said in an interview: “As of now, Tigran is still a member of our staff, so let’s see what his intentions are. I’m not aware of your thought process. “I am not aware of the US administration process.”
During his ten years as an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigator, Gambaryan played a central role in dismantling the Welcome to Video child sexual abuse video network and the Alpha Bay darknet market, seizing nearly 70,000 bitcoins stolen from the Silk Road. and the recovery of 650,000 bitcoins stolen from Mt Gox.
Gambaryan’s arrest in Nigeria sparked outrage throughout the crypto industry and beyond, including several members of Congress.
READ MORE: Tigran Gambaryan: the star crypto researcher kidnapped by Nigeria
