Binance.US promoted its president, Brian Shroder, to chief executive on Oct. 8, 2021, the U.S. arm of the cryptocurrency exchange announced2. Shroder had been appointed president in September 2021, after Brian Brooks, the former head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, left the chief executive post following four months in the job. Binance.US named Eric Segal interim chief financial officer on Oct. 8, 2021, too, replacing Joshua Sroge, who was leaving the company.
Four of Binance's 17 leadership moves on the record came in 2021
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Binance, by year
- 2021: 4
- 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2025 | 1 |
| 2026 | 1 |
Six CEO appointments on the record in 2021
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2021: 6
- 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 17 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2025 | 35 |
The move
Why did Binance.US hand the top job to its sitting president on the day its chief financial officer was leaving? Shroder was already Binance.US's president and a board member when the promotion came, CoinDesk reported2. Before Binance.US, he worked at Ant Group, an affiliate of the Chinese internet giant Alibaba, as a strategist and business development executive. He also held an executive role at Uber. Segal would hold the CFO job only until a permanent replacement arrived. Binance.US said it was working with the executive recruiting firm Russell Reynolds Associates on that search.
One month into the job, Shroder introduced himself to customers directly. “I want to introduce myself: my name is Brian Shroder and I am the new CEO of Binance.US,” he wrote in a company blog post on Nov. 9, 20211. He called the exchange “an incredible company with a dedicated workforce that built a successful business in a short period of time”.
Binance.US before and after
Shroder inherited an exchange he said had just crossed 200 full-time employees and carried the industry's lowest fees1. He also acknowledged gaps in customer service. “To the customers we have failed or let down... I hear you, and I sincerely apologize for our shortcoming,” he wrote, pointing to slow onboarding and support tickets as examples. He named his guiding principle plainly: “the 'North Star' principle that has guided me throughout my career is putting customers first”.
What came next
Shroder ran Binance.US for about two years. Banking Dive reported on Sept. 13, 2023, that he had left the exchange after two and a half years, and that his exit coincided with layoffs of roughly 100 employees, about one-third of the company3. The cuts were Binance.US's second round of layoffs since the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the exchange with securities violations in June 2023, Banking Dive reported. Norman Reed, Binance.US's chief legal officer and general counsel, stepped in as interim chief executive. A Binance.US spokesperson told Banking Dive the layoffs would give the exchange "more than seven years of financial runway" to keep operating "as a crypto-only exchange".
Sources
- Brian Shroder, "Message to Binance.US Community, From CEO Brian Shroder," Binance.US, Nov. 9, 2021, https://blog.binance.us/message-to-binance-us-community-from-ceo-brian-shroder/
- James Rubin, "Binance.US Bumps Brian Shroder to CEO; CFO Departs," CoinDesk, Oct. 8, 2021, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/10/08/binanceus-hires-brian-shroder-as-ceo
- Gabrielle Saulsbery, "CEO out at embattled Binance.US," Banking Dive, Sept. 13, 2023, https://www.bankingdive.com/news/ceo-leaves-embattled-binance-us-brian-shroder/693510/