Binance Executives Exit as the Regulatory Heat on the Crypto Exchange Intensifies

The billionaire founder of crypto's biggest exchange Binance Holdings Ltd. sought to defend the platform following the exits of executives who had been helping the company navigate a widening regulatory crisis.

Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao said "we continue to BUILD, and continue to hire" in a tweet on Friday after Binance’s chief strategy officer, general counsel and a compliance official departed, stirring fresh questions about the outlook for an exchange that’s facing probes in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Zhao has repeatedly had to counter what he terms "FUD" — or fear, uncertainty and doubt — amid a decline in Binance's share of spot crypto trading volumes as officials turn up the heat. The platform has become the poster child for a drive by regulators to tighten oversight of the digital-asset sector after a $1.5 trillion rout last year and a series of bankruptcies, including at rival FTX.

Patrick Hillmann, Binance's chief strategy officer who joined in 2021, tweeted he was leaving "on good terms." Steven Christie, senior vice president for compliance, and Hon Ng, general counsel, have also left, a person familiar with the matter said. The new general counsel will be Eleanor Hughes, said the person. 

Binance employed nearly 600 employees in the US, according to LinkedIn. During midyear performance reviews in June, various of these staffers were asked whether they would be willing to relocate and some of those who declined were let go, the person familiar with the matter said. 

Yibo Ling, chief business officer of Binance, was among the US staff that have left, according to the person familiar with the matter.

"Yes, there is turnover (at every company)," Zhao wrote in his tweet. "But the reasons dreamed up by the 'news' are completely wrong." Zhao said Binance grew from 30 to 8,000 people in six years and remains the largest crypto exchange, adding "we have been able to protect our users at all times."

The exchange's share of non-derivatives trading volume fell for a fourth month, dropping 1.4% to 42% in June — the lowest since August 2022, according to a report from researcher CCData. Binance stopped offering some popular trading pairs, contributing to the decline.

(Source: Bloomberg)