Kaiser Ng has confirmed in his own words that he is leaving the chief financial officer job at Binance, and he says what comes next is a set of tokenization projects spanning sports, music, GPUs, robotics, gold and collectibles. Hours after Ng posted his farewell statement on Sunday, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao said YZi Labs, the investment firm formerly known as Binance Labs, is “always keen to back ventures founded by current or former colleagues.” The exchange of messages puts a public face on a finance-chief handover that Binance first disclosed through a statement to reporters on Saturday, little more than a week after the $6.34 billion hack.
What Ng said
Ng opened with a single line: “After five years as CFO of Binance, I have decided to go build something of my own.” He confirmed that Justin Yek will take over, writing that he is “pleased to hand the keys to Justin, our next CFO.”
Most of the statement looks back. Ng said the finance team worked through “bull and bear cycles” and what he called “Operation Choke Point 2.0”, and that it grew from “a pure back-office function” into one that produced ideas and revenue for the company. He thanked MGX, Binance’s investor, and named Abu Dhabi Global Market as “our home regulator.” He also listed BlackRock, Circle, Franklin Templeton and Mastercard among business partners, and singled out Grant Thornton Singapore for thanks.
On the next step, he was broad rather than specific. “There isn’t just one project but several,” Ng wrote, naming basketball, music, GPUs, robotics, gold and collectibles. “Bringing these real-world assets onto the blockchain through tokenization is a massive opportunity for the industry,” he said, and invited people with an interest in those areas to contact him about joining his team. He did not name a company, a token, a funding round or a launch date.
CZ’s reply and the YZi Labs angle
Zhao quoted Ng’s post about five and a half hours later. “Kaiser has done great work and is a good friend. He shared his plans to build a startup a few months ago,” Zhao wrote, adding that YZi Labs is keen to back ventures started by current or former colleagues.
That is an expression of interest, not an announced investment. Neither Zhao nor Ng said any money had been committed. YZi Labs was Binance’s venture arm until a January 2025 rebrand, when Zhao took a more active role in its investments. Bloomberg reported at the time that the firm would become the family office of Zhao and Yi He, the Binance co-founder who is now co-CEO.
Zhao’s timeline also matters. His remark that Ng raised the startup plan “a few months ago” lines up with the account Binance gave on Saturday. Co-CEO Yi He said in a statement that Ng “has decided to pursue a new venture after more than five years at Binance, with a transition plan implemented over the last half year,” Reuters reported.
Why the timing drew attention
The handover was announced days after attackers drained $6.34 billion from Binance. The exchange later traced the attack to a tampered developer tool, a fake job interview and an internal AI tool, as covered in our report on how the Binance hack unfolded. Binance has said it will cover customer losses itself, and it is still reopening withdrawals in phases. On Sunday morning, HYPE withdrawals still showed as paused even after the exchange said they were back.
That backdrop explains why the CFO change made headlines. TechCrunch framed it as a departure “after $6.3 billion hack.” But nothing in Ng’s statement, Zhao’s reply or Yi He’s comments ties the exit to the breach. Both Binance and Zhao describe a plan that was in motion months before the October 29 theft.
What remains unclear is when Ng actually steps away. Yi He’s statement, as reported on Saturday, gave no departure date, and Ng’s post does not give one either. It ends with “For now, thank you, Binance, for five remarkable years.”
Who replaces him
Yek was most recently vice president of finance at Airwallex, the cross-border payments company, according to Reuters. He takes over the books at a company that has said it will bear the cost of the stolen funds itself. Ng has been CFO since January 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile as cited by Reuters, and previously worked at rival exchange Kraken.
The tenure figures do not quite match. Ng’s post says five years as CFO, while Reuters dates his start in the role to January 2022, a little under five years ago. Yi He referred to “more than five years at Binance,” which may count time before he took the CFO title.
What to watch
Binance’s leadership is due to speak publicly within a day. Co-CEOs Richard Teng and Yi He will join Chief Security Officer Jimmy Su for a fireside chat on X Spaces on Monday, November 9, at 12:00 UTC, the exchange said. Listeners should watch for a firm handover date for Yek and any update on reimbursements and the remaining paused networks.
On Ng’s side, the next marker is whether he names a company or a first asset to tokenize. If YZi Labs leads or joins a round, that would be the first concrete sign that Zhao’s interest has turned into capital.
FAQ
Is Kaiser Ng leaving Binance because of the hack?
Nobody involved has said so. Binance said a transition plan had been implemented over the last half year, and Zhao said Ng told him about the startup a few months ago.
Has YZi Labs invested in Ng’s new venture?
No investment has been announced. Zhao said YZi Labs is keen to back ventures founded by current or former colleagues, without naming terms.
Who is Binance’s new CFO?
Justin Yek, most recently vice president of finance at Airwallex, according to Reuters. Ng’s own post hands over to “Justin, our next CFO.”
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
