NEW YORK (AP) โ The CEO of Binance's U.S. subsidiary has left the cryptocurrency trading platform amid another round of job cuts.
Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder is no longer with the company, a spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The cryptocurrency exchange did not specify when or why Shroder left, but said chief legal officer Norman Reed now serves as interim CEO.
Shroder He joined Binance.US as President in September 2021 and was named CEO the following month.
Shroder's departure coincides with the elimination of approximately a third of Binance.US' workforce, with layoffs affecting more than 100 employees.
"The actions we are taking provide Binance.US with more than seven years of financial runway and allow us to continue serving our customers while operating as an exclusive cryptocurrency exchange," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Binance.US also pointed to actions taken by the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, arguing that the agency's "aggressive attempts to cripple our industry and the resulting impacts on our business have consequences on the real worldโฆand this is an unfortunate example of that.โ
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its founder Changpeng Zhao have faced extensive litigation from US regulators this year.
In March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued the company with accusations of numerous exchange violations. And in June, the SEC accused Binance and its owner of misuse of investor fundsoperating as an unregistered exchange and violating a number of federal securities laws.
In a statement at the time, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said Zhao and Binance "engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, non-disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law," adding that " "The public should be careful when investing." any of your hard-earned assets with or on these illegal platforms.โ
The SEC also sued Binance.US operator BAM Trading Services. Weeks later, a court settlement allowed the cryptocurrency exchange continue operations in the US as he fights SEC charges.
This week's job cuts are not the first seen on Binance.US this year. An unconfirmed number of layoffs were seen at the company following the SEC lawsuit in June. according to Reuters.
Binance.US maintains that it operates independently of Binance, but Zhao is the majority owner of both.
