Binance Loses Its Finance Chief Days After the $6.3 Billion Hack

Binance is losing its chief financial officer just days after the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange suffered a record $6.3 billion hack. Kaiser Ng will leave the company and be succeeded by Justin Yek, Binance said on Saturday.

"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," co-chief executive officer Yi He said in a statement.

The departure comes at a difficult moment for the exchange. Hackers stole a record $6.3 billion from Binance, the largest theft ever recorded from a cryptocurrency exchange, and the company has been working to reassure users and partners in the days since.

Ng spent more than five years at Binance, a period in which the exchange grew into the dominant venue for crypto trading and came under intense scrutiny from regulators around the world. Binance did not say what Ng's new venture would be, or give a precise date for the handover beyond the transition plan already in place.

Yek steps into the finance chief role as Binance tries to steady itself after the heist. The company has said it remains in strong financial health, but the scale of the theft — and the questions it raises about security at the world's largest exchange — will follow the new finance chief from his first day.

Sources

• Reuters — Binance CFO Kaiser Ng steps down, Justin Yek named new finance chief