OKCoin Poaches Two Execs from Blockchain.com and Coinbase

Cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin has onboarded two crypto veterans to take on influential roles, having installed Haider Rafique as global chief marketing officer and Megan Monroe-Coleman as global chief compliance officer.

Haider Rafique lands at the fiat-to-crypto platform coming from Blockchain .com where he most recently served as former Head of Growth. He also led several consumer and SaaS tech brands through different growth phases, including the infrastructure provider where the wallet user base has been doubled during his time.

Blockchain.com, an early entrant in the crypto space and one of the industry’s best-known wallet providers, has been going through employee exodus over the past few months. Most recently, it parted ways with Marco Santori, one of the famous lawyers to represent blockchain and cryptocurrency businesses, who left to join crypto exchange Kraken.

OKCoin has also appointed Megan Monroe-Coleman, which until recently served as Senior Director of Compliance at Coinbase, to lead its compliance affairs. She held an analogous role the US arm of crypto exchange Huobi and was formerly MTL Compliance Officer at U.S. software giant Intuit, following the company’s acquisition of financial software firm Mint. Megan also spent seven years at “Big Four” auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), according to her LinkedIn profile.

“We are very proud to announce the addition of Haider and Megan to our global leadership ranks. These are two important strategic hires for us as we continue to expand our global platform out of San Francisco. As we approach the third Halving of Bitcoin in the midst of macro-uncertainties triggered by COVID-19, we believe that we are poised for the next wave of crypto adoption,” said Hong Fang, OKCoin CEO.

OKCoin has recently made an executive swap with its current CEO, Tim Byun, stepping down to assume his old role as Government Relations Officer (GGRO) of OKGroup. Meanwhile, OKCoin chairman and one of its early investors, Hong Fang, has taken over as the newest executive director. The former Goldman Sachs banker also serves as chief operating officer (COO) of the San Francisco-based OK Group.

OKCoin was one of the three major crypto exchanges in China before the authorities’ crackdown on the virtual asset industry, including a ban on ICOs in September 2017. Fleeing the hostile business environment, the exchange, along with its peers, has since shifted its operations overseas.