Binance Elevates Co-Founder Yi He to Co-CEO in Leadership Rebalance
Key Takeaways:
- Major exchange Binance appoints business leader and co-founder Yi He as the new co-CEO.
- This strategy combines her retail growth experience with Richard Teng's regulatory background.
- The move aims to secure Binance's future by stabilizing its compliance while expanding its user base.
On December 3, Binance co-founder Yi He was appointed co-CEO of the exchange. The announcement was made in Dubai by her new leadership partner, Richard Teng, during his keynote at Binance Blockchain Week.
“Yi has been an integral part of the executive leadership team since the launch of Binance. Her innovative and user-focused approach has been instrumental in shaping the company's vision, culture, and bottom-up business strategy,” Teng explained in a statement.
Yi He's Path from Founding Architect to Executive Office
Yi He's appointment is characterized by the company as a natural progression.
A co-founder of Binance alongside Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, she has been a pivotal yet often low-profile architect of the company's vision, culture, and bottom-up business strategy.
Yi He started life in China's Sichuan province, where she initially started work on television as a travel show host before entering the cryptocurrency sector.
At the exchange OKCoin(now known as OKX), Yi He recruited Zhao as a chief technology officer, marking the start of a long-standing partnership.
At Binance, Yi He first ran marketing and then led the venture capital team, Binance Labs. Her most recent role, however, was Chief Customer Service Officer. This position put her user-focused philosophy into direct practice.
This background stands in deliberate contrast to that of her co-CEO, Richard Teng.
Teng, a former financial regulator, was elevated to CEO following CZ’s guilty plea to U.S. authorities in 2023.
“I am honored to build alongside Richard, who brings decades of experience in regulated financial markets and was among the first to regulate crypto in its early days,” Yi He said.
The leadership shift occurs amidst ongoing speculation about the future role of former CEO Changpeng Zhao.
After serving a prison sentence in the U.S., Zhao was pardoned.
While he congratulated Yi He on her appointment, Teng has stated that no decision has been made regarding Zhao's potential return to the company.
Balancing Growth, Compliance, and Market Dominance
Binance's new co-CEO structure clearly defines its two main goals. The leaders must grow the retail customer base and meet strict compliance standards at the same time. These objectives match each executive's core strengths.
Yi He will focus on users and expansion. Her track record is clear. She has driven Binance's aggressive push into new markets, even as the company approaches 300 million users worldwide.
This huge scale creates its own momentum.
At the same time, building trust through compliance will continue to be a priority, especially after Binance's multi-billion-dollar U.S. settlement.
A more regulated path is now being followed.
Under Teng's direction, the compliance team has grown, and licenses have been secured globally. These efforts are now combined with a new focus: serving institutions. Services for family offices and traditional banks are being launched.
Jimmy Aki
Drawing from his background in economics, Jimmy has monitored blockchain development for years, firmly believing in its power to democratise finance. Beyond offering commentary on the latest crypto developments, he also spends his time analysing open-source codes of promising projects on GitHub. Jimmy holds Bitcoin and Ethereum.
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