Flex Yang is a financial technology entrepreneur best known as the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Babel Finance, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency financial services provider, founder of usdx.money, a stablecoin powered by Stable Labs. ^[1]

Career & Experience

Yang began his professional career in the traditional finance sector, gaining experience in auditing and investment banking. He worked in the financial services assurance division at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the "Big Four" accounting firms. This role provided him with deep insights into the financial reporting and internal controls of major financial institutions. He later transitioned to a role in investment banking, where he was involved with capital markets and corporate finance, further developing his expertise in financial structuring and advisory services. ^[3]

In 2018, Yang co-founded Babel Finance alongside Del Wang. They identified a growing demand from institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals for sophisticated financial services tailored to the nascent cryptocurrency market. The firm was established to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets, offering services that were familiar to institutional clients but applied to crypto. As CEO, Yang was responsible for setting the company's strategic direction, overseeing its global expansion, and managing key institutional relationships. The firm's primary business lines included crypto lending and borrowing, asset management, and structured financial products. Under his leadership, Babel Finance focused heavily on serving a client base in Asia before expanding its reach globally. ^[4]

Babel Finance experienced a period of substantial growth between 2019 and early 2022, becoming one of the most prominent crypto-lending institutions in the industry. The company successfully catered to crypto miners, exchanges, and investment funds that required liquidity and yield-generating products. A major milestone in Yang's tenure as CEO occurred in May 2022, when Babel Finance announced the completion of an $80 million Series B funding round. This investment round was led by major venture capital firms, including Jeneration Capital and 10T Holdings, and included participation from existing investors like Dragonfly Capital and Circle Ventures. The funding round brought Babel Finance's valuation to $2 billion, signaling strong market confidence in its business model and Yang's leadership at the time. ^[5]

This period of success was abruptly halted just one month later. In June 2022, the cryptocurrency market experienced extreme volatility following the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem and the subsequent insolvency of the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). This market-wide contagion created severe liquidity constraints across the industry. On June 17, 2022, Babel Finance announced it was suspending all client withdrawals and redemptions, citing "unusual liquidity pressures." In a statement, the company acknowledged the severe market conditions and the risk exposure it faced. ^[6]

Subsequent reports revealed the extent of the company's financial difficulties. It was reported that Babel Finance's proprietary trading desk had incurred substantial losses, estimated to be over $280 million in customer funds, through highly leveraged trading positions. The losses were attributed to the firm's inability to manage its risk during the unprecedented market crash. In his role as CEO, Yang was central to the company's response to the crisis. He communicated with clients and creditors and began exploring options for restructuring the company to protect the interests of its stakeholders. The crisis marked a dramatic turn for the company and for Yang's leadership, shifting his focus from growth and expansion to crisis management and corporate recovery. He has since been involved in the complex process of negotiating with creditors and seeking potential bailout solutions to stabilize the firm's financial situation. ^[1]

Education Yang pursued higher education in both China and Australia, building a foundation in economics and finance. He completed his undergraduate studies at the prestigious Peking University in Beijing. Following this, he attended the University of Sydney in Australia, where he earned a Master of Economics degree. His academic background provided him with the theoretical framework for his later career in both traditional and decentralized finance. ^[2]