CZ says Binance.US CEO departed to take a break

Quick Take

  • Brian Shroder is departing Binance.US as CEO for “a deserved break,” CZ said. 
  • The Block reported that Shroder was leaving the firm on Tuesday as a third of Binance.US employees were cut. 

Binance CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao attributed the recent departure of the head of the crypto exchange's U.S. arm to the need for a break.

"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 on Friday. "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."

"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 Binance.US in this market," he added.

Shroder's departure

The Block reported earlier in the week that Shroder will be departing from the exchange, two years after he joined in 2021. Binance.US also let go nearly a third of its staff.

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The workforce reduction comes as Binance.US brings in ever decreasing cryptocurrency trading volumes. The exchange has seen volume decline over the past five months, with Binance.US seeing trades total just $290.4 million in August compared to $17.6 billion in March, according to The Block's Data Dashboard. 


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.

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