The SEC complaint indicates why Brian Brooks has resigned as CEO of Binance

The latest SEC complaint against Binance may indicate why former US Binance CEO Brian Brooks chose to step down in August 2021, just three months after his appointment.

According to a June 5 tweet from cryptocurrency attorney James Murphy — better known on Twitter as MetaLawMan — the SEC complaint cites an “unnamed source” who ran Binance.US for a brief period of time in 2021. The dates correlate with when Brooks was chairman Binance.US CEO.

Brooks, a former senior banking regulator, led operations at the cryptocurrency exchange after replacing former CEO Kathryn Cooley on May 1, 2021. According to comments in the complaint, Brooks quickly realized that he “wasn’t actually the one running this company.” Realizing this, he decided to leave and announced his resignation after only three months on 7 August.

But Patrick Heilmann, Chief Communications Officer at Binance to push Returning to Murphy’s speculation, adding that this “might be one person’s story” and that it “might not stand the test of time.”

Cointelegraph has reached out to Binance.US and Brian Brooks for comment but has not yet received a response.

The information comes on the heels of the US Securities and Exchange Commission pressing a total of 13 counts against Binance for allegedly failing to register as a stock exchange and operating illegally in the US.

The news wreaked havoc on the prices of cryptocurrencies including bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), which are down 5.6% and 4.3% respectively in the past 24 hours, according to data from the Cointelegraph Price Index.

Shares of publicly traded cryptocurrency companies in the US also experienced a sharp price drop, with Coinbase (COIN) price dropping 9% during market trading hours on June 5.

Coinbase next?

Mark Palmer, senior equity research analyst at Berenberg Capital, told Cointelegraph that many of the details revealed in the lawsuit “echo” those it had previously filed against US-based cryptocurrency exchanges Bittrex and Kraken.

Related: Binance’s SEC suit contains a thick mix of predictable shipments and new revelations

As such, Ballmer believes that “together these cases represent a preview of the action likely to be brought against Coinbase.”

Ballmer said Coinbase investors should focus on whether the exchange has the ability to “successfully pivot” its business model and geographic focus if it is forced to “downsize or cease” a significant portion of its US operations as a result of the SEC. Mandatory.

“We estimate that at least 37% of net COIN revenue would be at risk if the SEC targets the company’s cryptocurrency trading and betting operations.

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