Binance's top strategist departs company amid reported US exec resignations

Binance’s chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann has confirmed he is leaving the crypto exchange amid reports that other top compliance executives in the United States have handed in their resignations.

On July 6, Patrick Hillmann tweeted: “I am leaving [Binance], but I’m doing so on good terms.”

“I’ve been here for two years and it’s simply time for me to move on to the next challenge,” said Hillmann, adding that he is now expecting his second child, “so the time is right for me to step aside.”

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

The tweet follows a report from Fortune, that suggested several Binance executives including Hillmann left the exchange over CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s response to the DOJ’s investigation, citing an internal source.

General counsel Han Ng and senior vice president for compliance Steven Christie were reported to have left the exchange.

In response to reports, Zhao tweeted it was “FUD,” claiming the reasons for the executive departures are “dreamed up” and “completely wrong.”

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

A separate report from Bloomberg, also citing a source, stated that Binance’s head of legal for APAC and MENA, Eleanor Hughes, will become the new general counsel replacing Ng, while Noah Perlamn, who joined as chief compliance officer in February, will remain at the company.

Binance pointed to Zhao’s tweet when asked for comment on the matter.

The DOJ is reportedly investigating Binance for allowing Russians to use the exchange in violations of U.S. sanctions.

In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance for allegedly offering unregistered securities and misusing customer funds among other charges.

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also sued Binance in March for allegedly failing to properly register with the regulator.

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Update (July 6, 11:15 pm UTC): This article has been updated with a tweet from Zhao and response from Binance.