The CEO’s departure happens amid the elimination of roughly 100 positions, which amounts to one-third of the workforce. The downsizing is reportedly in response to increased regulatory scrutiny from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Binance.US CEO’s Departure Sparks Crypto Community Speculation
The recent news has triggered speculation within the crypto community. Some are questioning the timing, while others propose that it could signal a gradual wind-down of Binance.US operations.
Will Clemente stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that it is “pretty obvious” the US arm has been winding down operations:
“They do like $15 million of daily volume, not worth the regulatory and legal risk for CZ/Binance who’s already under pressure.”
Skew, a well-known trading analyst, shared comparable views with Clemente. He hinted to his audience of 87,000 followers that the SEC’s legal action against Binance might be drawing to a close.
“Seems like this whole thing is going to be wrapping up in next few months or less,” Skew declared as he speculated over what the outcome will be for Binance. “Federal charges or big fat fines,” he added.
However, Adam Cochran pointed out to his 209,800 followers that the Binance.US CEO has had a limited social media presence this year:
“Given that Schroder stopped tweeting 8 months ago, you have to ask yourself why is this news dropping now?”
Cochran also highlighted a series of recent negative events as a potential indicator:
“Then you look at the SEC doing sealed filings last week. A DoJ action looming and crypto prices being down all week despite strong tradfi.”
BNB Reaction and SEC’s Legal Action Against Binance
The exchange’s native BNB asset has experienced an approximately 8.7% price drop over the past 30 days. At the time of this publication, its price stands at $211.
BNB Price Chart 1 Month. Source: BeInCrypto
This coincides with the ongoing SEC legal action and accusations leveled against Binance and its US subsidiary.
In June, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance.US and Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao. It accused a company under Zhao’s control of inflating trading volumes on the exchange.
The SEC asserts that Binance.US artificially boosted trading volumes “by using dozens of user accounts held by Sigma Chain, a Swiss trading company held by Zhao,” according to a recent report.