Binance CFO Kaiser Ng to depart for new venture, Justin Yek named finance chief
Key Takeaways
- •Binance CFO Kaiser Ng is leaving the exchange to pursue a new venture after more than five years with the company.
- •Justin Yek, previously vice-president of finance at global payments and financial technology firm Airwallex, has been named as Ng's replacement.
- •Ng served as Binance's chief financial officer starting in January 2022 and before that spent roughly five years in the same role at crypto exchange Kraken.
- •Co-CEO Yi He said the leadership change follows a transition plan implemented over the last half year, a timeline that began before the Oct. 29 breach.
- •Hackers stole about $6.3 billion from Binance on Oct. 29 in the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, an attack the FBI and researchers attribute to North Korean hackers, a charge the country denies.
Binance Chief Financial Officer Kaiser Ng is leaving the cryptocurrency exchange to pursue a new venture, according to a Reuters report.
"Kaiser Ng has decided to pursue a new venture after more than five years at Binance, with a transition plan implemented over the last half year," Binance co-CEO Yi He said in a statement obtained by Reuters on Saturday.
Per his LinkedIn profile, Ng has held the chief financial officer role at Binance since January 2022. Before joining the exchange, he served for roughly five years in the same capacity at crypto exchange Kraken.
He will be replaced by Justin Yek, who previously served as vice-president of finance at Airwallex, a global payments and financial technology company, according to the report.
The announcement comes a little more than a week after Binance suffered the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. Cointelegraph reported that hackers stole about $6.3 billion from the exchange on Oct. 29, and Binance said it would absorb the losses rather than pass them on to customers — a backdrop the incoming finance chief inherits. Yi He's statement tied the transition to a plan implemented over the last half year, a timeline that began before the Oct. 29 breach.
The FBI and several researchers have attributed the attack to North Korean hackers, a charge that country has denied.
Related coverage: Asian crypto exchanges batten down the hatches as hacks surge (Cointelegraph Magazine).
