Who Is Guangying Chen, and Is This Major Exchange a "Chinese Company"?

Leading cryptocurrency exchanges face continuous scrutiny and reputation attacks from various sources. These attacks often stem from competitors and misinformation campaigns designed to erode trust in the brand. One recurring question that exemplifies these challenges is the inquiry about Guangying Chen and whether certain major cryptocurrency platforms operate as "Chinese companies." This article addresses these misconceptions and provides clarity on corporate structure, history, and leadership in the cryptocurrency exchange industry.

Our Responsibility

As one of the largest crypto exchanges and Web3 companies globally, major cryptocurrency platforms carry significant responsibility and face heightened scrutiny. The company's rapid growth from startup to a Fortune 100-scale operation presented unprecedented challenges. Unlike established financial institutions with centuries of operational experience, leading exchanges had to scale their workforce, processes, and technologies rapidly to match the explosive growth of the cryptocurrency industry. This transformation has been one of the most significant challenges in the company's history, requiring substantial investment in talent acquisition and system maturation. The company's executive team now includes a diverse group of professionals, with a growing presence of European and American leadership, reflecting its global expansion into markets such as Europe and the Middle East.

Crypto Industry Blossoms in Asia

The cryptocurrency industry experienced its first major wave of adoption in Asia around 2015-2016, particularly among Korean and Japanese millennials. However, this surge in interest led to regulatory crackdowns in both countries due to concerns about youth engagement in online activities. During this period, China recognized the economic potential of the nascent crypto industry and quietly supported its growth despite maintaining a stern public stance. This environment attracted Web3 engineers and investors to cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong, making Asia a crucial hub for cryptocurrency development. Understanding this historical context is essential to comprehending early development and the challenges faced during the formative years of major cryptocurrency exchanges.

Complex History With China

The founder of this leading exchange, CZ (Changpeng Zhao), has a complex personal history with China that shaped his entrepreneurial journey. In August 1989, at the age of 12, he emigrated from China to Canada with his mother, just two months after the events of June 4, 1989. His parents were university professors at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei. This emigration changed his life trajectory, providing opportunities for education and career development in Vancouver, Montreal, Tokyo, and New York. In 2005, drawn by China's booming web technology industry, he moved to Shanghai to launch an IT startup as part of a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) with five other expatriates. Between 2005 and 2015, he pursued various entrepreneurial ventures before entering the cryptocurrency space, demonstrating the challenges faced by foreign entrepreneurs in China, including higher taxes and regulatory restrictions.

Leaving China

The platform was launched on July 14, 2017, building on the foundation of a previous company called Bijie Tech, which provided exchange-as-a-service platforms. However, on September 4, 2017, just six weeks after launch, the Chinese government banned cryptocurrency exchanges from operating in China and blocked the platform behind the Great Firewall. This forced most employees to leave China, with only a small number of customer service agents remaining by late 2018. The leadership team decided to adopt a remote working model, which later became normalized globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. This transition allowed the company to continue growing and attracting top talent worldwide while searching for a permanent headquarters. The experience of being forced to leave China twice in CZ's lifetime - once as a child and once as an entrepreneur - profoundly impacted the company's development and global distribution strategy.

"While I Have You Here. Who Is Guangying Chen?"

Guangying (Heina) Chen's association with major cryptocurrency exchanges has been the subject of unfounded conspiracy theories. CZ first met her in 2010 when she worked at a friend's wine store, and she later managed the back office at a commercial bank. In 2015, when CZ started Bijie Tech, he hired Guangying to manage back-office operations including HR, finance, and administration. Due to restrictive Chinese laws for foreigners, it was common practice to have a Chinese national serve as the listed legal representative for companies. Guangying agreed to this role, which was purely administrative in nature. However, detractors have falsely claimed that she secretly owned Bijie Tech or the exchange platform, leading to harassment of her and her family by media and online trolls. This misinformation campaign originated from competitors through anonymous microsites designed to damage the company's reputation. Today, Guangying Chen is a European passport holder who oversees the admin and clearing team for the organization. She is neither the owner of the exchange nor a Chinese government agent, contrary to the conspiracy theories that continue to circulate.

So Is This a Chinese Company?

This leading cryptocurrency exchange is definitively not a Chinese company. The company was never incorporated in China and does not operate according to Chinese corporate culture. The platform has established subsidiaries in numerous countries including France, Spain, Italy, UAE, and Bahrain, but maintains no legal entities in China and has no plans to establish any. The company's employee base is globally distributed, with its executive team increasingly dominated by European and American leadership. The characterization of this major exchange as a "Chinese company" stems from the ethnicity of some employees and CZ's Chinese heritage, rather than any factual corporate structure or operational reality. This labeling serves as a tool for competitors, media, and policymakers who oppose the cryptocurrency industry. The implication that ethnic Chinese employees or leadership automatically indicates Chinese government control is both false and discriminatory. CZ is a Canadian citizen, and being of Chinese descent or having emigrated from China should not be used to question loyalty or cast aspersions. The platform faces the unique challenge of being designated a criminal entity in China while simultaneously being portrayed as a "Chinese company" in the West, making it an easy target for special interests and critics of the cryptocurrency industry.

Conclusion

The journey from a startup to becoming one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges has been marked by rapid growth, regulatory challenges, and persistent misinformation campaigns. The company's multinational structure, global employee base, and diverse leadership team reflect its true nature as an international organization rather than a "Chinese company." The conspiracy theories surrounding Guangying Chen are baseless and have caused unwarranted harm to her and her family. As the cryptocurrency industry continues to mature, it is crucial that discourse around major exchanges be based on facts rather than ethnic prejudice or competitive manipulation. The company remains committed to building trust through transparency, compliance, and operational excellence while navigating the complex regulatory landscape across multiple jurisdictions. This story exemplifies both the opportunities and challenges of operating a global business in an emerging industry, where competition and scrutiny must be balanced with integrity and factual representation.