Departing Binance CFO Kaiser Ng Plans Tokenization Startup as CZ Floats YZi Labs Backing

Kaiser Ng, who is stepping down as chief financial officer of Binance, says he is leaving to found a company that would put real-world assets such as sports and entertainment properties, GPUs and gold on blockchains.

Ng laid out his plans in an X post on Sunday, Nov. 8, a day after Binance co-CEO Yi He said in a statement first reported by Bloomberg that Justin Yek would take over as CFO. “After five years as CFO of Binance, I have decided to go build something of my own,” Ng wrote.

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao responded that Ng “shared his plans to build a startup a few months ago” and that “YZiLabs is always keen to back ventures founded by current or former colleagues.” YZi Labs is the investment firm formerly known as Binance Labs. CZ did not say whether it plans to invest in Ng’s company.

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Ng wrote that “there isn’t just one project but several” he wants to pursue, among them basketball, music, GPUs, robotics, gold and collectibles. He called bringing those assets onchain through tokenization “a massive opportunity for the industry” and asked people with an interest in those areas to message him about joining his team. Going “from the CFO’s chair to the founder’s is a leap,” he added.

Ng joined Binance in January 2022 after about five years at rival exchange Kraken, according to his LinkedIn profile. His farewell thanked the exchange’s leadership and staff and said that “Binance is in very capable hands.”

Binance announced the change on Saturday, Nov. 7, nine days after attackers drained about $6.3 billion from its hot wallets, a theft the FBI has attributed to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. Binance has pledged to reimburse affected users.

In her statement, Yi He said Ng “has decided to pursue a new venture after more than five years at Binance, with a transition plan implemented over the last six months.” Ng’s post did not mention the hack.

Yek was most recently vice president of finance at payments company Airwallex. “I am thrilled to step into the role of CFO at Binance,” he said in the statement.

Yek inherits Binance’s finance function while the exchange is still working through its pledge to cover customer losses from the Oct. 29 theft. CZ’s account that Ng raised his startup plans months ago and Binance’s six-month transition timeline both place the planning for Ng’s exit before the hack.

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