Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has announced the appointment of Hon Ng as its new Chief Legal Officer (CLO). The move comes as the company seeks to strengthen its regulatory compliance and global expansion efforts.

Bitget Bolsters Legal Team

Ng, a seasoned legal professional with over two decades of experience, joins Bitget from Binance, where he served as General Counsel and Head of Government Affairs & Policy. During his tenure at Binance, Ng played a crucial role in the company's licensing efforts and compliance enhancements, as well as its interactions with global regulators.

In his new role, Ng will focus on similar tasks, overseeing Bitget's global regulatory compliance, engaging in dialogues with regulators, and spearheading the company's efforts to obtain licenses in new markets. His appointment comes at a critical time for the cryptocurrency industry, which faces increasing regulatory scrutiny worldwide.

“Hon Ng's extensive experience in digital and Web3-related legal and compliance affairs, combined with his track record of solving complex corporate-level issues, makes him the ideal candidate for this position,” Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, commented on the appointment.

Ng's career includes overseeing a $500 million acquisition of a strategic stake in X (formerly Twitter) in consortium with Elon Musk, and managing multiple regulatory investigations in the crypto space. He has also been recognized by the Financial Times as one of the World's Top 20 Legal Leaders.

“This is an exciting opportunity for me to be working with incredibly talented people and to continue to be able to enhance the industry’s culture of compliance, working side-by-side with regulators, in order to contribute meaningfully to the sustainability of the digital assets ecosystem,” Ng added.

Bitget Wallet More Popular than MetaMask

In related news, Bitget Wallet, the company's Web3 wallet division, has reached a significant milestone of 30 million users. The wallet has experienced visible growth, surpassing MetaMask in global app downloads for July 2024, “with total downloads on Apple's App Store and the Android Google Play Store hitting 1.7 million in a month, showcasing a 140% rise from its previous month,” the company commented in a separate press release.

The wallet has gained significant traction in Japan, where it saw a 34% rise in new user registrations. Data from data.ai indicates that the Bitget Wallet ranks as the second most popular Web3 wallet in Japan, trailing only behind MetaMask.

Despite not being the biggest cryptocurrency exchange by total volume, Bitget ended the quarter on a positive note. During the period from April to June, it was the third highest in terms of net capital inflow and demonstrated the most substantial growth in market share among its peers. The platform witnessed $700 million in investor inflows in the second quarter, with a nearly 50% increase in overall platform activity.