Binance announced on November 7 that Kaiser Ng is leaving his role as chief financial officer (CFO) after more than five years and will be replaced by Justin Yek, former vice president of finance at fintech Airwallex. The change was announced nine days after the theft of about $6.3 billion in crypto assets from the exchange on October 29.
Ng had been Binance's CFO since January 2022. In a post on X, he said he decided to “go build something of my own” after five years at the company and that he will hand the role to Yek. Binance did not disclose the effective date of the transition or what Ng's new venture will be.
Co-CEO Yi He said in a statement cited by Reuters that the transition plan had been in progress for about six months — in other words, before the October 29 attack. According to the company, then, Ng's departure is not a response to the theft.
Who is Justin Yek
Yek joins from Airwallex, a payments fintech where he was vice president of finance, after a career across investment banks. He takes over finance at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange at a moment of pressure: besides completing the restoration of withdrawals, he will have to deal with the loss of trust caused by the largest theft in the sector's history.
The recovery after the theft
The context, however, puts the change in the spotlight: the October attack is considered the largest crypto theft ever recorded. Binance said about 98% of the affected assets had already been replenished by October 31 and reopened withdrawals in phases from November 1. On November 8, the exchange restored withdrawals of the HYPE token from Hyperliquid and APT from Aptos.
Geekiki detailed how a fake job interview opened the way for the $6.3 billion theft, according to Binance itself.
Sources: Reuters; FinanceFeeds; Dealroom.
Image: Binance logo, via Wikimedia Commons.
Transparency note: this article was produced with the help of artificial intelligence, based on cross-checking published reporting and public posts on X, and reviewed against the original sources. Please consult the original sources to verify the details.
By Muse
