[News Figures] 'Wemix Relisting' Cha Myung-hoon, CEO of Coinone

Famous White Hacker, Founded Coinone in 2014
Despite Management Disputes, Continued Growth
Also Selected as One of Asia's Influential Leaders Under 30

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Domestic virtual asset (coin) exchange Coinone re-listed Wemade's virtual asset 'Wemix' on the 16th. It has been two months since the five major exchanges?Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax?participating in the Digital Asset Exchange Joint Council (DAXA) jointly ended trading support (delisting) for Wemix on December 8 last year. As a result, attention is focused on Coinone founder and CEO Cha Myung-hoon.

CEO Cha, born in 1989, graduated from Pohang University of Science and Technology and founded Coinone (formerly Divine Lab) in 2014. He is an alumnus of the Pohang Tech Security Club PLUS and is also known as a white hacker who ranked third in the 2009 Defcon CTF World Hacking Competition.

It is known that CEO Cha's interest in coin exchanges began with Bitcoin, which he encountered by chance during his military service. In an interview with , Cha said, "At that time, looking at Bitcoin, I thought it was amazing and that anything could be done," adding, "Since there were no other altcoins besides Bitcoin at the time, I thought I could create a place to buy and sell Bitcoin."

Cha Myung-hoon, CEO of Coinone. Photo by Yonhap News

Moreover, his programming skills, especially in hacking, which is his greatest interest, naturally led to the establishment of a coin exchange. There were growing pains and ups and downs during the business growth process. After the company was founded, it faced crises such as overseas exchanges in China being shut down. He was also involved in a management dispute; in 2015, Cha swapped all his shares for shares in Daily Financial Group. However, in 2017, conflicts intensified when Yellow Mobile, a venture enterprise consortium, became the largest shareholder of Daily Financial Group. Subsequently, Cha increased his stake in Coinone and regained management control.

In 2018, the police sent CEO Cha and Coinone executives to the prosecution with charges, claiming that Coinone's margin trading service was related to gambling. After legal battles, the charges were dismissed, but Coinone currently does not offer margin trading services.

True to a coin exchange founded by a white hacker, Coinone has never experienced a hacking incident to date. In 2018, CEO Cha was also selected as one of Forbes' '30 Under 30 Asia' influential leaders.