Binance CCO comments on job cut reports
The chief communications officer of Binance has denied reports of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange cutting 20% of its staff. Patrick Hillmann retweeted a post from journalist Colin Wu, who had reported that layoffs were expected in June. However, Hillmann later tweeted that the company was not cutting jobs as a cost-saving measure. He explained that Binance had experienced exponential growth in the past five years and had grown its staff accordingly. Hillmann added that the talent density audit and resource allocation exercise were cyclical processes that the company regularly went through. He also noted that regulators were putting pressure on organizations to adapt to regulatory expectations for the industry and the asset class more broadly.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao with knowingly offering unregistered crypto derivative products in the US in violation of the law. Hillmann had previously admitted that the exchange expects to pay various fines amid multiple ongoing investigations to “make amends” for past regulatory violations. Binance is also under investigation by the US Internal Revenue Service and various federal prosecutors over concerns about poor adherence to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) controls.
