Binance reportedly has made over 1,000 employees redundant in recent weeks, further shrinking its previous 8,000-strong global workforce. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the massive cut in employment today (Friday), citing an insider source.
Binance Cuts More Jobs Globally
Former employees told WSJ that more staff members across the exchange ’s global markets were let go this week, with customer-service workers mostly affected. In India alone, about 40 employees in this category were dismissed, the outlet said.
The downsizing comes as regulatory pressure continues to mount on the exchange, which recently endured an exodus of senior executives. Already, over 50 employees working for the exchange’s so-called independent US subsidiary have been released.
However, earlier this month, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the CEO of Binance, while reacting to the departure of Patrick Hillmann, the ex-Chief Strategy Officer and other key executives, dismissed speculations of troubles at the exchange, noting that “there is turnover at every company.”
4. More FUD about some departures. Yes, there is turnover (at every company). But the reasons dreamed up by the “news” are completely wrong.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) July 6, 2023
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…
Before then, in May, Hillman rebuffed reports that Binance was pruning its workforce by 20% as a ‘cost-cutting measure’, suggesting that the exchange was simply going through its regular ‘talent density audit and resource allocation’ exercise.
Let me provide some additional clarity via 🧵.
— Patrick Hillmann (@PRHillmann) May 31, 2023
Binance is not cutting 20% of employees as a cost-cutting measure. @binance experienced true exponential growth these past 5 years — and grew its staff accordingly. This was a historic operational challenge to overcome. https://t.co/Awmh8PdT8j
More Troubles for Binance
Currently, Binance is defending against charges filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made in early June. The regulator has alleged that the exchange ran unregistered trading platforms and misused customers’ funds. On the other hand, the crypto exchange is worried about possible charges from the US Department of Justice, WSJ reported.
In the last month, Binance has suffered several setbacks: it was forced out of Belgium, denied a license in the Netherlands and Germany, and lost its euro banking partner. Additionally, the exchange is under investigation in France, with a lawmaker pushing for a congressional inquiry into the firm’s representative in Brazil.
However, despite these challenges, Binance recently launched in Kazakhstan, marking its first presence in the Central Asia sub-region.