On August 7, former US Binance CEO Brian Brooks announced his resignation from the position merely four months after joining the company. While Brooks said the resignation materialized due to “differences over strategic direction”, reports suggested that there might be a different reason.
According to reports by The NY Times, the main reason behind the sudden resignation was due to Binance’s failure to relinquish control over its American branch.
In an interview with The NY Times, Ray Lane revealed that his venture capital firm GreatPoint Ventures was looking to invest in Binance US. While Brooks assured the firm that Binance US was a separate entity from Binance.com, the company couldn’t forgo the current Binance relations with the US authorities who are investigating the exchange over money laundering and tax violations.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s 90% ownership over the US entity also played a role in the firm’s investment decision.
The NY Times also reported that a senior SoftBank executive was looking to make a personal investment in Binance US, however, they decided against it as well.
Manuel P. Alvarez, a former banking regulator of California, was hired by Binance US as its chief administrative officer in early July. However, both Alvarez and Brooks resigned soon after GreatPoint pulled out of the deal talks.
Binance is currently facing clampdown from several authorities worldwide. Authorities from Japan, the Netherlands, the US, the UK, Hong Kong, and other countries have issued warnings against the crypto exchange for operating without registration.