Share this article
Crypto Exchange OKCoin Appoints New CEO to Drive US Expansion
Outgoing OkCoin CEO Tim Byun will lead OK Group's global government relations from the end of March.
By David Pan
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 8:17 a.m. Published Mar 6, 2020, 2:16 p.m.
OKCoin has named its chairman, Hong Fang, as the cryptocurrency exchange's new chief executive.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Announced Friday, Fang, who also serves as the San Francisco-based company’s chief operating officer, will replace current Chief Executive Tim Byun as of March 31. She will lead an effort to further develop the firm's crypto trading products for customers in more U.S. states, as well across Asia and Europe.
Byun will become global government relations officer (GGRO) of the exchange’s parent company, OK Group. There, he will focus on global growth and maintaining communications with governments and regulators internationally.
Prior to his time at OK Group, Byun was chief compliance officer for BitPay. Before that, he served as the anti-money laundering (AML) officer and head of credit settlement risk at Visa for over five years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“As a foremost regulatory expert in the crypto industry, Tim Byun will take on the new GGRO role,” a spokesperson at OK Group told CoinDesk. “We will be able to better leverage his expertise across all units of business within the group.”
Originally founded in China, OK Group has a variety of crypto and blockchain businesses including trading, enterprise blockchains and mining. It has shifted toward blockchain technology in the county since the Chinese government banned crypto trading in 2017.
Fang joined the company in September. She most recently led the investment portfolios and strategic growth at Giant Network, a Chinese gaming company.
She comes with eight years of experience at Goldman Sachs, where she was focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and restructuring, based in New York.
Byun helped OKCoin open its first U.S. office in 2017 and supervised its operations. Since then, the exchange has obtained a money transmitter license from multiple states and offered fiat-crypto trading services to local customers.
The firm first launched U.S. trading services in 2018.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Japan’s Higher Rates Puts Bitcoin in the Crosshairs of a Yen Carry Unwind
A stronger yen typically coincides with de-risking across macro portfolios, and that dynamic could tighten liquidity conditions that recently helped bitcoin rebound from November’s lows.
What to know:
- The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates to 0.75% at its December meeting, the highest since 1995, affecting global markets including cryptocurrencies.
- A stronger yen could lead to de-risking in macro portfolios, impacting liquidity conditions that have supported bitcoin's recent recovery.
- Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated a high probability of a rate hike, with officials prepared for further tightening if their economic outlook supports it.
Top Stories
