Binance.US CEO steps down

New Delhi: Leading blockchain and cryptocurrency platform Binance.US chief executive officer (CEO) Brian Shroder has stepped down from the company as it laid off one-third of its staff, or more than 100 employees, a media report said on Wednesday. According to Forkast, this downsizing effort will provide Binance.US "more than seven years of financial runway". "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," the Binance.US spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The spokesperson also added that Norman Reed, the company's chief legal officer, assumed Shroder's position on an interim basis.

In June, US regulators sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly operating a "web of deception" and filed 13 charges in a federal court.

Back in August, Binance has been dumped by global payments processor Checkout.com amid growing regulatory concerns.

Checkout CEO Guillaume Pousaz terminated the company's relationship with its once-largest customer citing "reports of regulators actions and orders in relevant jurisdictions" and "inquiries from partners". He cited additional concerns over Binance's anti-money laundering, sanctions and compliance controls.

Binance was also ordered by Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) to immediately cease all offers of virtual currency services in the country.

Several crypto companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in recent months like Genesis Global Trading (a subsidiary of the crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG), FTX, BlockFi, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network and Voyager.