Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, allegedly reduced its number of employees by over 1,000 over the past weeks just days after multiple senior executives confirmed they would leave the company.
The decision came as the industry continued to face tight scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other U.S. government authorities.
Commenting on the news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), confirmed that the company will carry out some involuntary terminations to “increase talent density.”
As we continuously strive to increase talent density, there are involuntary terminations. This happens in every company. The numbers reported by media are all way off. 4 FUD.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) July 14, 2023
On the bright side, they just can’t resist talking about us.
We are still hiring. 🤝
At the start of July, Binance faced an executive exodus, including:
- Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann citing personal reasons
- Compliance executive Steven Christie due to being “tired” and looking to “lose weight”
- General Counsel Hon Ng and U.S.-based Chief Business Officer Yibo Ling, according to Bloomberg's report
Separate reports suggested the four executives left the company following CZ’s response to a probe led by the U.S. Justice Department.
Last month, the SEC filed 13 charges against Binance and CZ, claiming that the exchange mishandled customer funds and deceived regulators and investors by covertly transferring billions of dollars to a separate company controlled by CZ.
However, the most recent ruling by a U.S. District Judge sparked optimism last week after the court confirmed the XRP crypto token is "not a security," allowing Coinbase to relist trading for XRP on its platform.
The judge explained that Ripple Labs didn't violate federal securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges, leading to a rally in the crypto market.
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