Binance Names Ex-FBI Agent BJ Kang to Head Investigations Team

BJ Kang, a retired FBI agent who had a hand in unraveling some of Wall Street’s biggest insider trading schemes, has been named head of investigations for cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

“In this role, BJ will lead and oversee all aspects of Binance.US’ commitment to protect users by partnering closely with law enforcement, regulators and industry peers — along with building Binance.US’ own investigations infrastructure…,” the company said in a news release Thursday (Oct. 20).

Kang spent nearly two decades with the FBI, most recently working for the cyber crime squad at the bureau’s Washington field office. His duties there included “investigating complex international insider trading schemes, cyber-enabled money laundering, cyber extortion and hackers targeting crypto and financial firms,” Binance said in the release.

Kang is joining Binance as crypto companies deal with federal investigations from the likes of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC), the report stated.

His hiring also comes at a time when crypto hacks are set to surpass last year’s total, as PYMNTS noted last week.

Read more: Crypto Hackers Clean Up in October, Adding to $3B Haul

As of Oct. 13, fraudsters had stolen at least $718 million, bringing the total for 2022 to more than $3 billion across 125 hacks.

“After four hacks yesterday, October is now the biggest month in the biggest year ever for hacking activity, with more than half the month still to go. So far this month, $718 million has been stolen from #DeFi protocols across 11 different hacks,” Chainalysis said on Twitter.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms are the targets of most of the attacks. Enabling investors to trade across ledgers without a central intermediary, bridge attacks this month accounted for 82% of all losses in October, and 64% in 2022, Chainalysis calculated.

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