CEO and President of the United States arm of crypto giant “Binance” Brian Shroder has stepped down from the company amidst layoffs and declining business. Shroder’s departure comes at a time of uncertainty for Binance.US and several regulatory actions taken against the parent firm in recent months.
Binance.US CEO Steps Down After 2 Years
Brain’s departure from the crypto firm comes with the company eliminating about one-third of Binance.US workforce approximately more than 100 workers, which signals major changes within the crypto firm.
It is believed that these changes might be linked to the current legal challenges and regulatory pressures that have affected the crypto industry. However, the crypto exchange has come forward with its reasons for reducing its workforce saying:
The actions we are taking today provide Binance.US with more than seven years of financial runway and enable us to continue to serve our customers while we operate as a crypto-only exchange. 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.
According to sources, the crypto exchange’s Chief Legal Officer Norman Reed replaced Brain Shroder on an interim basis.
Brain Shroder was head of business development, and global partnership at Ant Group and head of strategy and business development in the Asia Pacific for Uber before joining the crypto giant Binance in September 2021.
Brian took over from former Binance.US CEO Brain Brooks in 2021, who ultimately left the company just four months after joining the crypto exchange.
So far, Brain Shroder is not the only high-profile executive to have exited the crypto exchange this year. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, several executives supervising the crypto exchange businesses in Russia have also left the firm.
In July, the crypto exchange’s Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillman, and compliance officer Steven Christie also announced their departure from the firm on X. However, Hillman stated that he was leaving the company on good terms, while Christie stated he was leaving the company for personal reasons.
Lawsuit Challenges Facing The Crypto Firm
In recent months, Binance.US has been facing a series of lawsuits. Earlier this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance and the exchange’s founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao for illegal trading activities, selling unregistered securities, mishandling customer funds, and violating commodities laws.
In March 2023, the US Commodity Futures and Trading Commission also filed a lawsuit against Binance which it called a “willful evasion.”
These lawsuits have caused significant challenges within the firm. One of the notable challenges following the actions of these lawsuits was the restriction placed on Binance.US users, as they were unable to use US dollars to purchase cryptocurrencies on the platform.
On June 8, 2023, Binance.US announced on X that the firm would be halting fiat withdrawal channels and suspending dollar deposits due to several banking partners breaking off from the platform because of several lawsuits against the firm.
Furthermore, Binance.US monthly trading volumes have been on a downward trajectory since the lawsuits were filed against the firm. Data from The Block shows that Binance.US’s monthly trading volume fell from $10.58 billion in January 2023 to $70 million in September 2023.