Two more executives at Binance US, the US affiliate of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, are set to leave the office to join the growing list of key departures as the company is being hammered by the US federal regulators.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, citing people familiar with the departures on Thursday, September 14, Krishna Juvvadi, legal director at Binance US, and Sidney Majalya, chief risk officer, are about to leave the company.
According to WSJ, Binance’s US legal director Krishna Juvvadi and chief risk officer Sidney Majalya are about to leave. Juvvadi is one of the company’s contacts with the SEC. Previously, Binance US had laid off one-third of its staff and president Brian Shroder resigned.…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 15, 2023
Krishna Juvvadi joined Binance US in May 2022 from Uber, where he served as global head of operations compliance. He was the main Binance US contact for communication with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Sidney Majalya took office in December 2021 and was previously the chief compliance officer at semiconductor giant Intel.
13 Executives Have Departed in the Last Three Months From Binance US
The Binance has been in muddy waters since the SEC hammered the exchange and its founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), with a 13-charges civil lawsuit in June 2023, alleging the company, among others, for operating an unregistered securities exchange and commingling customers’ assets.
Even before that, the US CFTC charged Binance and its executives with willful evasion of US commodities laws and operating an illegal derivates exchange. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly conducting a criminal investigation to determine if Binance allowed Russian users to use the platform despite sanctions.
The executive departure run began in July when four top executives from Binance reportedly left on the same day after Binance responded to the United States Department of Justice investigation on July 6. The latest departures are, as reported, coming just days after Binance US CEO Brian Shroder resigned amid a massive layoff earlier this week.
If the reported departures happen, the number of executives who have left the crypto exchange giant since July will grow to 13, 10 from Binance and 3 from Binance US.
#Binance Resignations Past 3 Months:
Binance:
• Chief Strategy Officer Resigns
• VP of Compliance Resigns
• Head of Product Resigns
• General Counsel Resigns
• Head of APAC ResignsBinance US:
• CEO Resigns
• Head of Legal Resigns
• Chief Risk Officer Resigns— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) September 15, 2023
As of September 15, the key departures and the timeline are as follows:
- July 6: Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann, General Council Han Ng, VP of Marketing and Communications Steve Milton, Director of Global Investigations and Intelligence Matthew Price resigned.
- July 7: VP for compliance Steven Christie resigned.
- August 31: The head of APAC at Binance, Leon Foong, resigned.
- September 4: The product lead at Binance, Mayur Kamat, resigned.
- September 6: Helen Hai, executive VP of Binance, Gleb Kostarev, VP for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Vladimir Smerkis, Russia and CIS general manager, resigned.
- September 12: Binance US CEO Brian Shroder resigns.
What does this mean for Binance US?
The high-profile exits from Binance US are a clear sign that the company is under a lot of pressure from regulators. Authorities are likely to continue to investigate Binance and the company will have to do more to comply with laws and regulations. This could make it difficult for Binance US to remain competitive in the cryptocurrency market.
