Viacheslav Taran: FX and Crypto industry mourns death of Libertex Group co-founder

The industry veteran was reportedly killed in an helicopter crash on his way back to Monaco from Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Popular among the expatriate community in Monaco, Viacheslav Taran was an FX industry heavyweight mostly known as the co-founder of Forex Club in 1997, later rebranded to Libertex.

Viacheslav Taran, an online FX & Crypto pioneer and philanthropist

Viacheslav Taran was also a known personality in Cyprus, where Libertex was headquartered and holds a CySEC license to serve residents in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

The financial brokerage group celebrated its 25th anniversary on 5th November 2022 at Parklane, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa in Limassol, Cyprus. The well-established brokerage has recently announced a multi-year sponsorship with FC Bayern Munich, the German football giant and Bundesliga 2021/2022 champion. 

Libertex was founded in 1997 as Forex Club and quickly became a multinational brand of online trading covering stocks, currencies, indices, commodities, gold, oil, gas. The brokerage group has over 700 employees and caters to more than 2 million clients from the Americas, Asia and Europe. 

In the last few years, Viacheslav Taran was increasingly involved in the digital asset space and was a shareholder in Lausanne-headquartered CeDeFi platform YouHodler and London-based Wirex. 

YouHodler was founded in 2019 after two years absorbing ideas and know-how in Silicon Valley and Switzerland. The “CeDeFi” platform offers to use crypto as collateral to get instant cash or crypto loans, allowing customers to both hold crypto assets and profit from liquidity. YouHodler was co-founded by CEO Ilya Volkov, who also coordinates the activity of the CryptoValley Association in Western Switzerland and Western Europe. Vyacheslav Taran

Besides being a blockchain enthusiast, the veteran fintech entrepreneur wrote two books, and was a coach, a public speaker, and a philanthropist. 

In order to give back to the community, Viacheslav Taran and other personalities set up charitable foundation Change One Life in 2014 dedicated to assisting children from orphanages and child-care institutions to find families and live fulfilling lives.

Earlier this year, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine broke out, he co-founded another charitable foundation, this time for Ukrainian refugees in Montenegro, called Pristaniste.me.

FX industry pays last respects to Viacheslav Taran

Several figures within the FX and Crypto community have come forward to pay their last respects publicly, including industry peers, former employees, and mentorees. 

Nikolai Isayev, Editor-in-Chief of FinanceFeeds, commented on LinkedIn the following day: “Yesterday, our industry suffered a tragic loss in the passing of Viacheslav Taran. He should be remembered, first and foremost, for his contributions to the development of retail FX since the early years, along with the decades of accomplishments since. Condolences to his family and the entire Libertex Group.”

Natalia Zakharova, Head of Sales at FXOpen: “Viacheslav was a major contributor to the retail FX world and in many ways an early adopter as his firm, Forex Club expanded globally at a time when the retail forex sector was in its relative infancy. Viacheslav’s contribution to the business will likely be remembered by many, including many big names who made their career during his leadership period. We send our condolences to his family at this time.” 

Matt Kryvashein, former Chief Marketing Officer and Board Member at Libertex Group, commented at the time: “Today I received a bad news, the person I treated as my mentor has passed away. Rest in peace Viacheslav Taran. Our last talk is still on top of my memory. No words”.

Nick Kovalchuk, former Head of China at Libertex, said: “Viacheslav Taran, thank you for everything you and your company gave to me. You were a great visionary leader and brave businessman. You built several honest and strong companies in a highly competitive industries. It was an honor for me to know you and learn from you. Rest in peace”.

Libertex Group also released a statement on the passing of Viacheslav Taran, which can be found below: 

“It is with great sadness that Libertex Group confirms the death of its co-founder and Chairman of Board of Directors, Vyacheslav Taran, after a helicopter crash that took place en route to Monaco on Friday, 25 November 2022.

“The Board of Directors of Libertex Group and company employees extend their most heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the Taran family. Vyacheslav is survived by his wife Olga and three children.

“Vyacheslav Taran was a fintech entrepreneur and a published author, with long-standing experience in the financial industry. In 1997, he co-founded what was to eventually become the trading and investing platform Libertex.

“A well-known and highly respected businessman, described as kind-hearted, polite and humble by everyone who was fortunate enough to know him, Taran was a true visionary. His vision and direction have made Libertex what it is today: his “dream company to work for” that he often described to colleagues in speeches and internal memos as “a company whose services and products I use myself and am willing to recommend to my relatives and friends.”

“Taran was also devoted to giving back to the community and always rushed to help those in need, particularly children. He co-founded Change One Life, a charitable foundation helping children from orphanages and child-care institutions to find families and live fulfilling lives. To this day, Change One Life has helped more than 30,000 orphaned children.

“Vyacheslav Taran will be missed more than words can express, and everyone at Libertex will eternally be grateful for what he has accomplished.

“We kindly ask that during this difficult and extremely painful time, the family’s privacy is respected.

“Libertex Group would also like to extend its condolences to the family of the pilot.”