Tigran Gambaryan, the Binance executive who was kidnapped and illegally imprisoned in Nigeria for eight months, said it would be an honor to serve his country again, if asked to do so, to fight crypto crime under the new Trump administration.
Gambaryan, who has been head of financial crime compliance at Binance for two years, is a former federal agent and part of an elite group of early crypto tracers within the federal government, which has included investigations highly publicized during Trump’s last term. in the office.
“Although I am not a political person, some of my most important cases took place during the previous term of the president-elect,” Gambaryan told Coindesk via email. “If I had the opportunity, it would be an honor 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-level positions, such as head of crypto assets at the SEC or a leadership position in the FBI’s cyber division. The recommendations to the Trump 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, heads 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: “For now, Tigran is still a member of our team, so let’s see what his intentions are. I’m not privy to his thought process. I am not familiar with the American administrative process.”
During his ten years as an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigator, Gambaryan played a central role in dismantling the child sex abuse video ring. Welcome to the Alpha Bay video and darknet marketplace, the seizure of nearly 70,000 bitcoins stolen from the Silk Road, and the recovery of 650,000 bitcoins stolen from Mt Gox.
Gambaryan’s detention in Nigeria has sparked outrage in the crypto industry and beyond, including among several members of Congress.
READ MORE: Tigran Gambaryan: Star crypto investigator kidnapped by Nigeria
