Crypto exchange Binance said to lay off 1,000 workers in recent weeks

Binance has axed more than 1,000 people globally in recent weeks as the embattled cryptocurrency exchange suffers from heightened regulatory scrutiny, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The platform and its founder Changpeng Zhao got sued last month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly operating the country illegally, misusing customer funds, among other violations. The Commodity and Futures Trade Commission for also filed a suit against Binance, accusing it of breaching certain trading and derivatives rules. Last week, Forbes reported a number of senior executives of Binance had resigned in response to Zhao's handling of an ongoing probe by the Justice Department. The probe was said to pertain to Binance's attempts to trick U.S. regulators, as well as allegedly laundering money and violating sanctions. A Binance spokesman told the Journal that the job cuts, which could impact one-third of the company's global workforce of 8K, came as "we need to focus on talent density across the organization to ensure we remain nimble and dynamic." "This is not a case of rightsizing, but rather, re-evaluating whether we have the right talent and expertise in critical roles," he added . Binance did not immediately respond to Seeking Alpha's request for comment. The company's purported U.S. affiliate, Binance.US, was said to have laid off about 50 people within its legal, compliance and risk departments. More on Binance: Binance offices in Australia searched by financial markets regulator - report Paysafe to stop supporting Binance in September Binance ordered by markets regulator to cease crypto services in Belgium