Eqonex Limited (NASDAQ: EQOS) ("EQONEX" or the "Company"), a digital assets financial services company, and Bifinity UAB (“Bifinity”), a payments technology company that is part of Binance, took the next step in solidifying their strategic partnership with the appointment of EQONEX’s new CEO and two new members to the EQONEX Board of Directors (the “Board”).
Jonathan Farnell, who previously served as Head of Binance UK and CEO of Bifinity, has been appointed as CEO of EQONEX and a director on the Board. Helen Hai, President of Bifinity, has also been appointed to the Board. Both appointments are effective immediately. The current interim CEO Andrew Eldon will revert back to his primary roles of Chief Operating Officer and interim Chief Marketing Officer.
Under the terms of the strategic partnership announced last week, Bifinity had the right to nominate key appointments, including the CEO and two new Board members. Bifinity will also nominate two additional senior leaders in the coming weeks.
As CEO, Jonathan will play an instrumental role in fast-tracking the collaboration between both businesses. The initial phase of this groundbreaking strategic partnership will put in place a framework for Bifinity to safeguard some of its client assets with EQONEX’s FCA registered custodian, Digivault, in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements. Moving forward, Bifinity will develop ways to leverage the EQONEX Exchange as an alternative trading platform, deploy resources to strengthen the technology, and also explore opportunities to scale the asset management business.
Jonathan is a respected finance and crypto industry leader and most recently held the roles of Head of Binance for the United Kingdom and CEO of Bifinity. With a strong compliance pedigree, Jonathan was involved in developing the company’s global regulatory license and registration roadmap, which was crucial for the official launch of Bifinity in early March 2022. Prior to that, Jonathan was Director of Compliance and Board Member of eToro Money, an FCA-regulated payments firm. He also headed operations and sat on the Board at eToroX, the Group's crypto exchange and custody platform
Helen is the President of Bifinity. She holds a BA in actuarial science and MSc in actuarial management from CASS Business School in London and EMBA from INSEAD and Tsinghua University. She had executive education at both Harvard University and UC Berkeley. Hai was named a 2015 Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum, and she is co-chair of the Global Future Council on the Future of Consumption for the World Economics Forum. She received the 2015 African Business Icon Award and was awarded as Officer of the National Order of Lion of Senegal in 2016. Hai was named 2017 Wu Fellow by UC Berkeley, Global Visionary by UBS and 2018 Aspen Fellow by Aspen Institute. She was also on “Ones to Watch” list for Bloomberg’s 50 people who shaped 2018 in unexpected ways. She received the 'INSEAD Alumni Force for Good Award' in 2019. She was also selected as one of the Cointelegraph Top 100 (2019), the 100 most important and influential people in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world.
Chi-Won Yoon, EQONEX Chairman said, “We are delighted to welcome Jonathan to the EQONEX management team and Helen to our Board. Their appointments mark the next critical step in developing the Bifinity and EQONEX strategic partnership. I look forward to working with them closely to optimize our businesses and fulfil our joint vision to become a bridge between the old world of traditional finance and cryptocurrencies.”
Jonathan Farnell, CEO of EQONEX said, “EQONEX was one of the crypto industry’s pioneering firms, leading the sector towards greater regulatory compliance and governance as a listed company. Now as we embark on this groundbreaking industry partnership, it’s particularly exciting to join EQONEX as it approaches such an important inflection point in its history.”
“We can already see the strengths and capabilities that we can harness between the two companies. EQONEX has an outstanding regulatory and licensing track record and market-leading expertise at identifying opportunities for institutions, which is most clearly evident when looking at the Digivault business that continues to attract institutions and law enforcement agencies. Coupled with its asset management business and exchange, the opportunity to create a full ecosystem by harnessing Bifinity’s technology, marketing clout and client base has the potential to be transformative for the industry.”
Jonathan added, “EQONEX and Bifinity share the same ethos and vision to help create safe and compliant cryptocurrency ecosystems for consumers and institutions across the world. I’m looking forward to fostering true collaboration and productivity across both businesses across both teams.”