Binance.US Exodus Continues As Legal And Risk Chiefs Depart

Updated: 15 September 2023

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Binance.US lost two more senior executives just two days after its CEO left amid a regulatory crackdown that’s hammering its business.

Head of legal, Krishna Juvvadi, and chief risk officer, Sidney Majalya, were the latest executives through the crypto exchange’s revolving door, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The exchange also slashed a third of its staff, or about 100 workers, this week.

Krishna Juvvadi, who was Uber’s first regulatory attorney, will now lead the daily operations of the San Francisco-based legal department for @BinanceUS. https://t.co/jhmXUpmIL5

— Corporate Counsel (@CorpCounsel) May 19, 2022

Binance Revenues Plunged to $70 Million From $10.6 Billion

Binance.US’s business has been throttled this year by Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuits that The Block says has seen revenues plunge to $70 million this month from $10.6 billion in January. The Justice Department also is probing the company.

Juvvadi had held his position since May 2022, after previously working for Uber as the global head of compliance. Majalya had joined the company in December 2021 after previously working as Intel’s chief compliance officer.

An exodus of staff globally from Binance has gathered pace in the past fortnight. Thirteen staff have now left since since July with three departures this week and four last week. Fortune earlier reported that staff departures were sparked in part by disquiet within the company about the way CEO Changpeng Zhao has handled the investigation into the exchange by the US Department of Justice.

Zhao has hit back at reports about staff departures, rumours about plans for market withdrawals and some product closures, dismissing ”negative” reports as ”FUD.”

The company has also dismissed parallels between itself and bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, stating that all its assets are “backed one-to-one” and providing assurances that it has no liquidity issues.

Despite the lawsuits, heightened regulatory scrutiny and challenges in some regions, Binance remains financially stable and is not comparable to the now-bankrupt FTX, head of regional markets Richard Teng told CoinTelegraph in an interview.

“There were different rumours and FUD after FTX,” he said. “People tried to associate us, which is totally untrue. Our assets are backed one-to-one.”