Bithumb Names Back Young Heo as Its New CEO

He also held the apex position at the exchange for 8 months in 2018.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has promoted Back Young Heo as its new chief executive officer (CEO).

Announced on Monday, Back joined the Korean exchange in 2017 as the head of compliance and was recently holding the position of a senior vice president.

He was also appointed as the CEO of the exchange in April 2018 and continued at the apex position till December of that year. The company highlighted Back’s contribution to upgrading the exchange’s anti-money laundering (AML) system and know-your-customer (KYC) policy during his previous tenure as the CEO.

Commenting on his new role, Back said: “With the upcoming regulation coming into effect in 2021, management has been preparing well in advance to be fully compliant. In addition, we are relentless at investing in the security of our customers’ assets and ensuring a seamless service.”

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Prior to joining Bithumb, Back worked in the traditional finance industry for 14 years and his portfolio includes names like Citibank, CitiCapital, ING Bank, and ING Securities.

Focusing fill the compliance gap of crypto

In his new tenure, he will again stress to enhance the exchange’s AML policy and internal controls, making them on par with the traditional financing platforms. The exchange is aiming to be fully compliant with the recently passed financial regulation going into effect in March 2021.

Bithumb is also planning on hiring a number of professionals with compliance experience from traditional finance, as well as investing heavily in its Fraud Detection System (FDS) and AML solutions, the announcement added.

Meanwhile, the crypto exchange has reported $30.5 million in profit for last year – the achievement is huge as it reported $170 million in losses for 2018.

Notably, last year, the Korean tax agency slapped Bithumb with a $69 million upholding tax fine, but the exchange appealed against the decision in a court.