Sroge’s appointment as interim CEO of BinanceUS comes in the wake of Brian Brooks’ resignation after serving in the position for less than four months.
BinanceUS selected Joshua Sroge as interim CEO after Brian Brooks abruptly left the American outlet of the crypto exchange. Sroge previously served as a chief financial officer (CFO) and is one of its longest-tenured employees, according to sources. The new interim CEO who joined BinanceUS in January last year as CFO, was selected by the exchange’s board. He will serve in his new role until the company can find a permanent replacement.
Brooks announced on Twitter on August 6th, that he was leaving BinanceUS after three and a half months. He suggested that “differences over strategic direction” caused his premature exit but did not elaborate further. Brooks allegedly spent months trying to carve out a separate BinanceUS entity from the parent company Binance. Before Brooks’ appointment as CEO, Brian Brooks served as acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Soon after Brook’s announcement, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance and chairman of the US outlet, weighed in on the matter. In a BinanceUS statement, ‘CZ’ assured the 13.5 million active users of the platform that “this transition will not impact BinanceUS customers in any way.”
Interim CEO, Joshua Sroge had stints with a few other firms in a financial capacity. Before joining BinanceUS, he was a principal at Firestone CFO, a financial services consultancy outfit. Before that, he served as chief accounting officer at Shapeshift, a crypto firm where he grew the company’s employee base from 15 to 115 people.
Interim BinanceUS CEO Assumes Position Amid Parent Company’s Increasing Global Scrutiny
Binance is facing scrutiny from several countries in recent months over calls for increased crypto regulation and oversight. The exchange platform recently announced the discontinuation of derivatives trading in Hong Kong for new users, effective immediately. The company said it would give existing users 90 days to close open positions in futures, options, margin products, and leveraged tokens. These are all part of compliance measures Binance is taking to reshape its image as the firm also shut down derivative offerings in Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands.
There is some worry about regulators in the US, the UK, Malaysia, and Thailand about the standard of anti-laundering checks at crypto exchanges. They say exchanges like Binance can be used for laundering and other forms of financial impropriety. Regulators believe that government oversight can stop this, and save at-risk users and consumers.
In July, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority moved to block Binance from operating in the country. Earlier in May, the crypto exchange came under investigation by a laundry list of US government agencies for potential criminal violations. The probing agencies include the US Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. At the moment, investigations are still ongoing.
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