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- Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao gave his spin on this week’s exit of Brian Shroder on X (formerly known as Twitter).
- Zhao said that “the crypto market is in a different place now than it was two years ago” and that former chief legal officer Norman Reed is the right person to lead Binance.US now.
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao took to X, formerly Twitter, on Friday to give his take on the departure this week of Binance.US’s CEO Brian Shroder.
“Brian Shroder is taking a deserved break after accomplishing what he set out to do when he joined two years ago,” Zhao wrote on X. “Under his leadership, Binance.US raised capital, improved its product and service offerings, solidified internal processes, and gained significant market share, all of which helped to build a more resilient company for the benefit of customers. We are grateful for his contributions.”
On Tuesday, Binance.US told CoinDesk that Shroder was leaving the company and that one-third of its employees were also being laid off. The company said in a statement to various media sources that the layoffs would give it “more than seven years of financial runway,” and blamed the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has sued Binance and Binance.US for allegedly violating securities laws and operating as unregistered exchanges, for crippling the industry.
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Zhao added in his post Friday that “The crypto market is in a different place now than it was two years ago, with a rapidly evolving and increasingly hostile regulatory environment. Norman Reed – former SEC, New York Fed, Ripple, and DTCC executive – is the right person to lead @BinanceUS in this market.”
Reed had formerly been Binance.US’s chief legal officer.
Zhao signed off with his familiar exhortation to supporters to “ignore FUD” or fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and “keep building.”
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Binance has faced a plethora of governmental actions against it recently, including the SEC’s suit, a suit by the US Commodities and Futures Commission and an investigation by the US Department of Justice. A number of top executives have left the company in the last few months amid the turmoil.
Binance and Binance.US did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment on CZ’s post.
Nelson Wang is DL News’ editor based in New York. Reach out to him at nelson@dlnews.com.