Another Binance Exec Resigns Amid US Legal Scrutiny

Patrick Hillmann, Binance’s chief strategy officer, confirmed via a tweet that he is leaving the cryptocurrency exchange, parting ways amicably after a two-year tenure. His announcement joins the recent exits of other top compliance officers at Binance:

Apologies for any typos, but I was not expecting to be tweeting about this today.

It’s true that I am leaving @Binance, but I’m doing so on good terms. I continue to respect and support @cz_binance and am grateful for having had the incredible opportunity to work under his…

— Patrick Hillmann (@PRHillmann) July 6, 2023

Hillmann ended the tweet with: “Blockchain and crypto is here to stay and I am excited to watch it explode in the years ahead.”

In the wake of this news, reports surfaced about the departure of two other senior compliance executives, Han Ng, the General Counsel, and Steven Christie, the Senior Vice President for Compliance, according to a report from Fortune.

CEO Changpeng Zhao took to Twitter to dismiss the media narratives surrounding the high-profile exits, labeling them as baseless fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD):

4. More FUD about some departures. Yes, there is turnover (at every company). But the reasons dreamed up by the “news” are completely wrong.

As an organization that has grown from 30 to 8000 people in 6 years, from 0 to the world’s largest crypto exchange in less than 5 months…

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) July 6, 2023

“As markets and the global environment for crypto changes, as our organization evolves, and as personal situations change, there is turnover at every company.”

Following these departures, replacements have been announced. Eleanor Hughes, previously Binance’s Head of Legal for APAC and MENA regions, is slated to become the new General Counsel, stepping into Ng’s shoes. Noah Perlamn, who was appointed as Chief Compliance Officer earlier this year, is set to stay, according to a source telling Bloomberg.

The leadership reshuffle at Binance occurs as the exchange finds itself under legal and regulatory scrutiny. Binance faces lawsuits from the SEC and the CFTC. The SEC accuses the exchange of offering unregistered securities, misappropriation of customer funds and various counts of fraud. The CFTC, on the other hand, alleges that Binance failed to register appropriately in order to offer commodities trading services.