Binance US CEO Brian Shroder exits as exchange cuts one-third of workforce
Binance has blamed the SEC's regulatory onslaught for its actions.
Binance US CEO Brian Shroder has left his role at the embattled crypto exchange amid a significant workforce reduction, which saw around one-third of its employees laid off, too.
A Binance US spokesperson confirmed the incident, adding that the action gives the platform more than seven years of financial runway to continue operating as a crypto-only exchange. They added:
“The SEC’s aggressive attempts to cripple our industry and the resulting impacts on our business have real world consequences for American jobs and innovation, and this is an unfortunate example of that.”
Several market observers have suggested that the firm’s departures might indicate Binance US’s gradual shutdown of its operations. The beleaguered crypto exchange had previously cut staff early into the lawsuit filed against it by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June. Since then, the crypto firm has seen its market share plunge to less than 1%, with its users struggling to deposit and withdraw dollars.
Binance top executives leave.
The departures at Binance US are coming on the heels of the exit of several top executives at the parent company, Binance Holdings.
Since the beginning of the year, more than five key executives of the firm, including Patrick Hillmann, senior vice president for compliance, Steven Christie, general counsel Han Ng, and director of investigations Matthew Price, have left their roles. These exits have drawn concerns from the crypto community in light of the regulatory issues the platform has been facing across multiple jurisdictions.
CryptoSlate reported that the regulatory hiccups have affected Binance’s market share, which has declined for six consecutive months 38.5%—its lowest point in the past year.
Despite this, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has dismissed the “negative news” of the high employee turnover, saying:
“Binance probably also have the lowest founding team turnover of any tech startup of our size and age, in the world.”