OKEx Suffers Major Blow As Former CEO Joins Rival

Chris Lee has taken over as Board Secretary and Vice President of International Business Development at Huobi, barely a week after quitting as Chief Executive Officer of OKEx.  Among the many tasks he is expected to perform include, supporting Huobi global business development as well coming up with financing strategies.

His exit compounds OKEx woes after a series of setbacks over the past year.  In the first quarter, a report by an author named Sylvain "ArtPlay" Ribes made headlines, alleging that 93% of OKEx transaction volumes were all fake transactions.

Later on, demonstrations were carried out in front of OKCoin, the exchange parent company, Beijing offices as investors sought compensation for losses they said were incurred on buying tokens on the exchange that were manipulated.

Lee whose Chinese name is Li Shufei in a post said he does not regret joining the OKEx rival.

"Regarding my ex-employer, I am trying my best to contain myself as what I am doing is for the best for everyone. For my ex-employer, I have no regrets, and I have tried my best," said Mr. Lee

OKCoin founder Mingxing Xu has already responded to the high profile exit, stating that legal professionals will handle the matter. He went on to wish Lee all the best in his new place of work.

Huobi founder Leon Li has sought to defend the company on claims that they poached Mr. Lee from OKEX, reiterating that they only got in touch with him after he announced his resignation.

Amidst the unending setback that OKEx has faced, it has gone to outstrip rival cryptocurrencies in exchange to become the world largest by trading volume.  The exchange is currently ranked number one with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.7 billion. Huobi comes in third with a trading volume of $1.1 billion.

Joining OKEx at the top is another Hong Kong-born crypto exchange, Binance, which recently relocated its headquarters to Malta. OKEx has also relocated its base, as they both pursue pleasant crypto regulatory climate.  Huobi which is headquartered in Singapore has already opened a subsidiary in Singapore and is believed to be planning to open offices in London.

Crypto exchanges are expanding their footprint abroad to escape stringent regulations back at home and in the process pursue customers on the global scene. Cryptocurrencies miners are also expanding into regulatory friendly countries as they seek to accelerate their mining operations and growth.