Swathes of senior executives are fleeing Binance as US regulators turn up the heat on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
In recent days, chief strategy officer Patrick Hillman announced his departure over Twitter, while Bloomberg reported that senior vice president for compliance Steven Christie and general counsel Hon Ng have also left.
Bloomberg’s sources also disclosed that Yibo Ling, Binance’s chief business officer, left in June after turning down a relocation request.
It was unclear whether Ling quit or was fired, though his LinkedIn profile states that he is still employed at Binance. Proactive has reached out for a comment.
Taking to Twitter, Binance head Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao called the negative press around the departures FUD. FUD is an acronym for fear, uncertainty and doubt.
“Yes there is some turnover (at every company). But the reasons dreamed up by the “news” are completely wrong,” he tweeted.
Zhao continued: “As an organization that has grown from 30 to 8000 people in 6 years, from 0 to the world’s largest crypto exchange in less than 5 months from founding (and HELD ON to that position ever since), we have been able to protect our users at all times and we have been extremely lucky to have some of the best talent the planet has to offer.
“We thank all of our ex-team members for their contributions to our growth, and wish them all the best.”
4. More FUD about some departures. Yes, there is turnover (at every company). But the reasons dreamed up by the “news” are completely wrong.As an organization that has grown from 30 to 8000 people in 6 years, from 0 to the world’s largest crypto exchange in less than 5 months…
— CZ ???? Binance (@cz_binance) July 6, 2023
FUD or not, Binance is undeniably in regulatory hot water.
Last week, Binance was denied a custody licence in Germany that will substantially reduce the company’s expansion plans in the country.
Earlier in June, Binance exited the Dutch market after failing to successfully register as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) with the EU country.
These departures came as Binance’s US operations continue to hang in the balance.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Binance and rival exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) of offering unregistered securities in violation of federal laws, and lawsuits are ongoing.
Binance suspended US dollar deposits on 9 June due to what it called “extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics in (the SEC’s) pursuit of an ideological campaign against the American digital asset industry".
Earlier this week, Binance’s Australian offices were searched by the country’s financial regulator as part of an investigation into the company’s now-closed derivatives business.