Changpeng Zhao said Brooks stepping down would not "impact Binance.US
customers in any way." The cryptocurrency community has different
thoughts.
After serving as the chief executive officer of major cryptocurrency
exchange Binance.US for less than four months, Brian Brooks announced
Friday he would be stepping down — a move that was greeted with
confusion and suspicion from the crypto community.
Citing “differences over strategic direction,” the now-former CEO said
he had already resigned his position at Binance’s U.S. arm. Brooks had
been leading the crypto exchange since replacing former CEO Catherine
Coley on May 1.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance — a separate entity from its U.S.
arm — said Brooks stepping down would not “impact Binance.US customers
in any way.” He explained:
“I remain confident in
Binance.US's business and its commitment to serve its customers and
innovate [...] As one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the
United States, Binance.US is poised to continue to grow and empower the
future of finance.”
However, members of the outspoken crypto community speculated
that Brooks’ decision to leave the firm was based on internal knowledge
about issues surrounding the global Binance exchange, possibly from
regulators or other market forces.
Others connected
the timing of his departure to the regulatory backlash facing Binance,
which has prompted the exchange to roll back or even cease operations in
certain regions. Regulators in Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and
Canada have recently issued orders or warnings against Binance for
various reasons.
Binance has faced scrutiny even in the United States, with the Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service investigating the firm for alleged illegal trading activity. The exchange is reportedly the subject of an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regarding alleged trades by U.S. customers.
Related: Binance faces regulatory upheaval as lawmakers target ‘global’ exchanges
Others speculated
that Brooks’ departure may have been connected with his belief that the
crypto exchange business is not profitable in the long run. Those
comments were made in an interview with Forbes weeks before his resignation.
The general takeaway from that interview, according
to Forbes writer Javier Paz, was the “inevitable clash of direction” at
Binance.US, likely between Brooks and the board of directors. According
to one Twitter user, “It must be awful working against your moral compass.”
Some users reminded that Brooks’ desire to pursue a “strong compliance program” had the full backing of the board just a few months ago:
The general mood on
Crypto Twitter was that the resignation was “very strange,” especially
given all the excitement surrounding Brooks’ hiring just a few months
earlier.
At the time of writing, Brooks has yet to disclose his career plans.
Before joining Binance.US, he served in several high-profile roles at
Coinbase and the United States Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency.
Related: Binance to restrict derivatives trading for Hong Kong users
With additional reporting from Turner Wright.
source link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-community-in-shock-over-brian-brooks-resignation-from-binance-us
