The Binance SEC lawsuit didn’t happen in one day. It took months of build-up, with rumors flying up and down, before the Securities and Exchange Commission finally sent the court papers to Binance. The primary focus here is that within the months of build-up in the SEC Saga and after the lawsuit, Binance.US made several hiring decisions without the public noticing much of it. You could say the spotlight was on the SEC lawsuit, and you won’t be wrong.
One of the first developments regarding Binance hiring decisions during the whole SEC Saga was when they promoted Richard Teng to be its head of regional markets in late May. Within this period, the SEC was still investigating whether they should take Binance to the law court. The crypto exchange proved reports of massive layoffs wrong in several events. According to reports from sources like Blockworks, no layoffs happened in May despite several predictions.
Their next significant event was Binance carrying out a major employee heist on another crypto exchange, OKX. The largest crypto exchange Binance used its industry pull to get the services of Rachel Conlan from OKX to serve as vice president of global marketing.
Nevertheless, it is June, and Binance.US has confirmed to trusted sources that layoffs are knocking on the company’s door. Binance employee count is set to reduce after the crypto exchange told Blockworks that layoffs are imminent. Binance.US didn’t tell Blockworks the number of employees leaving the company or the positions set to be removed. It was just a bland confirmation that some employees might have to look for other workplaces, as they are set to lose their job.
Layoff Rumors After Binance SEC Lawsuit
The layoff rumors became strong after Binance.US sued the Securities and Exchange Commission. Reuters was one of the first sources to report these rumors. The report from Reuters wasn’t a rumor; neither was it a confirmation. It was just in between. They claimed that a source familiar with the American company’s plans said 50 people were about to see their jobs taken away from them.
Blockworks haven’t confirmed whether this Binance employee count is true or false. Binance, on its own, is probably still busy with its SEC lawsuit to make any statement, as all efforts to get their comments on the new development were futile.
While Binance layoffs are yet to be 100% done, the crypto exchange has been hiring in its top positions since the SEC lawsuit. Recently, the largest crypto exchange Binance.US hired George Canellos as counsel to defend them in court.
The SEC Saga: When Is It Ending?
BAM Management and BAM Trading — the companies that manage Binance.US got sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for collaborating with illegal traders on their platforms—the SEC flagged several cryptocurrencies being traded on Binance as illicit securities.
The SEC they were wanted to take things too far when they applied to freeze the assets of Binance.US due to their lawsuit. With luck on Binance’s, the application was rejected, which is excellent news for the industry. There’s no definite sign that the case against Binance will end soon.