Binance co-CEO Richard Teng told FOX Business’ Darren Botelho that customers will not bear any losses following a massive $6.3 billion hack. Teng emphasizes that the cryptocurrency exchange takes full responsibility and has replenished the affected assets.
Binance named a new CFO just over a week after hackers stole around $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency from the exchange, believed to be the largest digital asset theft on record.
Kaiser Ng is leaving the company after more than five years to pursue a new venture, Binance co-CEO He Yi said in a statement provided to FOX Business.
Justin Yek, former CFO of global payments company Airwallex, will succeed him.
The announcement comes nine days after the October 29 cyberattack, but a Binance spokesperson confirmed to FOX Business that the leadership transition was planned more than six months ago and had no connection to the security incident.
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Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said the exchange’s security incident appeared to be a hack and thanked cryptocurrency companies that helped freeze the affected assets. (Ben McShane/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Kaiser Ng decided to embark on a new venture after more than five years at Binance, with a transition plan implemented over the last half of the year,” said He Yi.
The change in CFO comes as Binance works to recover stolen assets and strengthen its cybersecurity defenses in the wake of the attack, which the FBI attributed to North Korean hackers associated with an operation known as “TraderTraitor.”
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Binance has committed to absorbing losses rather than passing them on to customers. Co-CEO Richard Teng previously told FOX Business that customers would not bear any losses and that the exchange had replenished the affected assets.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said a major security incident may have affected around $6.3 billion in assets, including $3 billion frozen during the company’s investigation. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
In a November 3 update, Binance said it had replenished 98% of affected token assets and that approximately $2.85 billion in stolen assets had been frozen or intercepted.
The exchange also said it was working with law enforcement and industry partners to trace stolen funds while strengthening its cybersecurity defenses.
Binance said the hackers used a fraudulent job interview to compromise an employee’s computer before exploiting internal systems, including an artificial intelligence tool, to execute unauthorized cryptocurrency transactions.
Ng had been Binance’s CFO since January 2022 and previously worked at rival cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said a major security incident at the cryptocurrency exchange appeared to be a hack, with the company estimating the potential impact at $6.3 billion. (Reuters/Tyrone Siu/Reuters)
His successor, Yek, was most recently vice president of finance at Airwallex. The payments company announced his appointment as head of strategic financing and corporate development in February 2023, highlighting his previous experience at Morgan Stanley and Citi.
Yek said he was grateful for Ng’s partnership during the transition over the past few months.
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“I look forward to leading our finance organization as we continue to responsibly evolve and fulfill our mission globally,” Yek told FOX Business.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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