Binance whistleblower lawsuit reveals ‘chaotic’ work environment

The European arm of crypto exchange Binance faces a lawsuit from a former executive, who claims she was wrongfully terminated after alerting managers to an alleged bribery.

Amrita Srivastava worked for Binance’s Link platform until she was dismissed in May 2023 — just one month after raising concerns about bribery in the workplace. 

According to Bloomberg, Srivastava recently claimed at an employment tribunal that one of her co-workers accepted money to fast-track a customer’s integration “under the guise of providing consultative services.”

A “chaotic” work environment pressured staff to make up for a “revenue gap,” Srivastava said at the hearing, after it came to light that a quarter of Binance Link’s revenue came from an Iran-linked customer.

In 2022, it was reported that Binance served crypto traders in Iran despite US sanctions and processed almost $8 billion in transactions.

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She claims to have then learned about the bribery through a customer who frequently traveled to the UK, who informed her that he gave money to her colleague.

“I was not prepared to look the other way when someone had defrauded a customer and yet was still a part of the team — some things are just right and wrong, and asking for a bribe and defrauding a customer was not a gray area — it is most definitely wrong,” Srivastava said.

However, Binance maintains that she was fired over “poor performance” that pre-dated the alleged bribery. The firm claims that by the time Srivastava blew the whistle, the matter was already under investigation. 

The person behind the alleged bribery has reportedly left the firm. 

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