A report from the Telegraph states that Jo Johnson, brother of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, has resigned from his position as an adviser to crypto exchange Binance.
According to the article, Jo Johnson served as an advisor to Binance during the time when the exchange was working to expand its operations into the United Kingdom.
In September, it was revealed that the brother of the former British prime minister, known as Lord Johnson of Marylebone, joined the U.K. advisory board of the exchange’s subsidiary Bitfinity.
The Telegraph states that he stepped down from his position at Binance last week after the exchange’s proof of reserves was found questionable and the exchange faced a rush of withdrawals which skyrocketed after a string of bad reports about Changpeng Zhao’s firm.
Nansen, a blockchain analytics firm, claims that 24-hour net outflows had exceeded $902 million. However, the cryptocurrency exchange revealed in a tweet that $USDC withdrawals are once again available after an interruption of one hour:
“$USDC withdrawals are back online. Thank you for your patience.”
Johnson announced his departure from the advisory board in a statement released on December 19:
“I stepped down from the advisory board last week and have no role with it [or] any related entity.”
In a filing with the United States regulators in April, Binance defined Bitfinity as “part of the Binance group,” meaning that the company Johnson was advising was established by Binance in March 2022.
The company facilitates the exchange of fiat currencies like the pound and the dollar for cryptocurrency.
Binance PoR Audit Under Speculation
Binance’s Bitcoin (BTC) reserve was audited by the firm Mazars, and the results were released publicly. This indicates that the exchange is over-collateralized.
Binance stated that major auditing companies including Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers are “currently unwilling” to do a proof-of-reserves audit for a private cryptocurrency exchange.
