OKEx CEO Quits To ‘Start New Life’ As Exchange Overtakes Binance As World’s Largest

Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx sparked criticism May 14 as its CEO resigned. The move comes the same week the exchange’s trade volumes reportedly overtook those of market leader Binance.As Bloomberg reports today, quoting two statements from the exchange, OKEx CEO Chris Lee left his position in order to “start a new life.”According to an unnamed spokeswoman, Lee said it was the “greatest pleasure and an honor” to have worked at the exchange.The event coincided with news that OKEx turnover had reached over $2 bln in trades in the past 24 hours, outpacing that of Binance, which had been the world’s largest exchange since January this year.Reactions from cryptocurrency figures and social media commentators were skeptical, however, as OKEx’s parent operator OkCoin had previously been embroiled in scandal over allegedly faketrading volume.The latest numbers, entrepreneur Alistair Milne hinted, could suggest the exchange was “up to its old tricks.” Milne did not specifically mention the allegations, which surfaced following an audit of OkCoin in August 2014.

According to Bloomberg meanwhile, Lee, who became OkCoin’s CFO in May 2016 before taking over running OKEx in May 2017, “did not elaborate” on why he had chosen to quit.