Team key to surpassing Binance ranking! Expanding business in the US, OKCoin Chairman Hong Fang takes over as CEO

The mainstream Chinese exchange OKCoin announced last Friday that its current chairman, Fang Hong, will take over as CEO, while the current CEO, Tim Byun, will transition to the role of Global Government Relations Officer (GGRO) at the OK Group, effective March 31st.

Former Goldman Sachs executive and early investor in OKCoin, as well as a long-term advisor, Hong Fang, will serve as the CEO and Chief Operating Officer of OKCoin Group. Hong Fang stated:

Over the past year, OKCoin has dedicated nearly half of its time to ensuring legal operations in the United States. We have successfully established a subsidiary in the U.S., obtained the MSB license registration from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and have begun obtaining state licenses on a state-by-state basis.

Note: MSB stands for Money Services Business, which requires businesses and individuals in industries such as casinos, depository institutions, insurance, money services businesses, mortgage companies, precious metals, securities, and money transmitters to register as MSBs in the U.S.

According to an announcement from OKCoin, the CEO transition is driven by the need for business expansion in the U.S. Hong Fang mentioned that OKCoin still needs to deploy in terms of authorization in the U.S., and the previous CEO Tim Byun's work has facilitated the exchange's progress, further expanding its presence in the U.S. market.

In September 2019, OKCoin expanded to seven states in the U.S., including Arkansas, Iowa, and Utah. Hong Fang stated:

In fact, we are in a phase where we will expand our business footprint in the U.S., both operationally and business-wise. Our goal has never changed, and we are proud to always be at the forefront of the financial revolution industry.

Predecessor of OKEx, Ranking Higher Than Binance

After the Chinese government issued a ban on cryptocurrency trading on September 4, 2017, major exchanges began to plan for overseas expansion. At that time, the well-known OKCoin rebranded as OKEx to venture abroad, which was widely believed to be a response to regulatory pressure and legal disputes. However, OKCoin China announced in 2018 that the two brands would operate independently, and founder Xu Mingxing resigned from OKEx-related positions in 2018.

Currently, OKCoin's development in the West seems to have reached a certain scale. According to evaluation research from data site CryptoCompare in the fourth quarter of last year, OKCoin's ranking in exchanges surpassed both Binance and Huobi Global. This list appears somewhat different from what we might expect, but OKCoin's team and compliance are the reasons for its success compared to Binance.

Further Reading

• Can Buying Internet Water Army Become a KOL in the Coin Circle? From the Experience of OKEx, This is the Price
• Zhao Changpeng has been Silenced! Binance Once Again Suspends Trading and Rejects Assistance from OKEx

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