According to individuals familiar with the situation and social media posts from employees, the U.S. branch of Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency company, has conducted a series of staff reductions following allegations of securities law violations and the freezing of its assets by regulators last week.
The number of employees affected and their positions could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.
Binance.US did not respond to inquiries for comment via email and phone.
Those who disclosed this information to Reuters, requesting anonymity due to the confidential nature of the matter, stated that personnel in Binance.US’ legal, compliance, and risk departments were among those let go.
On June 5, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao of establishing Binance.US as part of a scheme to circumvent securities regulations designed to safeguard American investors. Binance stated that it would vigorously defend itself against these allegations.
Additionally, the SEC filed a lawsuit against BAM Trading, the operating company of Binance.US, alleging that it had deceived investors about the absence of adequate trading controls on its platform.
The day after, the SEC sought a court order to freeze Binance.US’ assets, which include over $2.2 billion in cryptocurrencies and approximately $377 million in U.S. dollar bank accounts. The SEC expressed concerns about the possibility of the exchange relocating these funds offshore.
Binance.US dismissed the request as baseless and criticized the SEC’s allegations as unjust.
On Wednesday, two Binance.US employees announced on LinkedIn that they were departing the company, with one indicating the reason as a recent round of layoffs.
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