Yi He: From Rural China to Building the World's Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange

Many of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs begin with limited resources but unlimited determination. Yi He’s journey from a small rural village in China’s Sichuan province to becoming co-founder and co-CEO of Binance demonstrates how resilience, adaptability, and a relentless focus on users can shape one of the most influential technology companies of the digital age.

While Binance is often associated with Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Yi He has played an equally important role behind the scenes. From building the company’s global brand and community to helping steer its culture, products, and long-term strategy, she has been instrumental in transforming Binance into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

Yi He transformed a childhood of limited resources into one of the most influential leadership careers in cryptocurrency.
Her expertise in branding, community building, and customer experience became foundational to Binance’s global growth.
She helped establish Binance’s user-first culture by prioritizing customer support and community engagement.
Her appointment as co-CEO reflects her long-standing strategic influence within Binance beyond marketing alone.
Through YZi Labs, Yi He is helping invest in the next generation of Web3, AI, and biotechnology innovators.

Growing up in rural China meant living without many of the conveniences that millions take for granted. Yi He experienced periods without reliable electricity, studied under kerosene lamps, and fetched water from a well. Those early experiences shaped a mindset built around resilience, self-reliance, and finding opportunities where others saw limitations.

Instead of following a traditional career path, she explored psychology, teaching, television hosting, marketing, and eventually cryptocurrency. Every role added a new skill that would later prove invaluable when helping build one of the most recognized brands in digital finance.

From Rural China to a Career of Reinvention

Yi He was born around 1986 in Sichuan Province, where both of her parents worked as schoolteachers. Following the loss of her father during childhood, she learned responsibility early and consistently sought ways to improve her circumstances.

After moving to Beijing, she studied counseling psychology while earning professional certification as a psychological counselor. Although she eventually decided that psychology was not the right long-term career, the experience strengthened her understanding of human behavior – a skill that would later influence her approach to leadership and customer experience.

She then worked as a teacher before transitioning into television, hosting travel and lifestyle programs that significantly improved her communication skills and public presence. These seemingly unrelated experiences ultimately became valuable preparation for leading global marketing and community engagement.

Discovering Cryptocurrency Before the Mainstream

Yi He’s first exposure to Bitcoin came long before cryptocurrency became a global phenomenon. She recognized that blockchain technology represented more than speculative assets – it offered an entirely new financial infrastructure capable of reducing barriers to participation.

In 2014, she joined OKCoin, where she quickly established herself as one of the industry’s most effective marketing leaders. She helped expand the exchange’s brand recognition, strengthen user engagement, and execute ambitious marketing campaigns that accelerated growth.

Perhaps most importantly, her time at OKCoin introduced her to software engineer Changpeng Zhao. Recognizing his technical expertise, she recruited him to join the company as Chief Technology Officer, beginning a partnership that would later reshape the cryptocurrency industry.

Building Binance Beyond the Technology

When Binance launched in 2017, Yi He became one of its co-founders and played a central role in shaping the company’s public identity. While engineers focused on creating trading infrastructure, she concentrated on what many startups underestimate: earning user trust.

She contributed significantly to Binance’s early white paper, led global marketing initiatives, built the company’s community programs, and established many of the customer-first practices that continue to define Binance’s culture.

Yi He frequently emphasized that every employee should understand customer challenges firsthand. New team members were encouraged to spend time working directly with customer support before moving into other responsibilities. This philosophy helped maintain close connections between product development and real user needs.

Her leadership extended well beyond marketing. She influenced product direction, ecosystem development, retail user growth, and organizational culture, helping Binance scale from a startup into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.

Leading Through Industry Challenges

The cryptocurrency industry has experienced extraordinary growth alongside significant regulatory scrutiny. Binance itself faced one of its most difficult periods in 2023 when the company reached a settlement with U.S. authorities, resulting in Changpeng Zhao stepping down as CEO.

Throughout this transition, Yi He remained one of Binance’s most influential executives, helping maintain stability while the company strengthened its regulatory framework and global operations.

In December 2025, she was formally appointed co-CEO alongside Richard Teng. Under this leadership structure, Teng focuses primarily on regulatory compliance, licensing, and institutional relationships, while Yi He oversees product strategy, user experience, company culture, brand development, and community growth.

The complementary leadership model reflects Binance’s evolution from a fast-growing startup into a mature global technology company balancing innovation with regulatory expectations.

Expanding Her Vision Beyond Binance

Yi He has also played an important role in Binance’s investment activities. After leading Binance Labs, she helped oversee its transition into YZi Labs, an investment organization supporting entrepreneurs across Web3, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and other emerging technologies.

Rather than viewing innovation through a single industry, she increasingly focuses on technologies capable of improving global infrastructure and expanding economic opportunity.

Her leadership philosophy continues to emphasize execution over credentials, continuous learning, empathy for users, and long-term thinking. Those principles have remained remarkably consistent throughout her career, from rural Sichuan to leading one of the world’s largest digital asset companies.

Innovation Through Human Understanding

Unlike many technology founders celebrated primarily for engineering breakthroughs, Yi He’s greatest innovation has been understanding people. She recognized that sustainable technology businesses are built not only through better software but also through stronger communities, clearer communication, and relentless attention to customer needs.

Her diverse background across education, psychology, media, marketing, and technology enabled her to bridge technical innovation with human experience. That ability has helped Binance attract hundreds of millions of users while continuing to evolve in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Closing Thoughts

Yi He’s entrepreneurial journey illustrates that innovation is not limited to inventing new technologies. Sometimes, the greatest competitive advantage comes from understanding people, building trust, and creating organizations that consistently put users first.

From a childhood in rural China to helping lead one of the world’s most influential digital asset companies, she has shown that resilience, adaptability, and customer obsession can be every bit as transformative as technical innovation. Her story serves as a reminder that enduring businesses are built by leaders who understand both technology and the people it is designed to serve.

FAQs

Who is Yi He?

Yi He is the co-founder and co-CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. She is widely recognized for leading Binance’s marketing, community growth, product strategy, and user experience initiatives.

What was Yi He doing before Binance?

Before joining Binance, Yi He worked as a television presenter in China before moving into the cryptocurrency industry with OKCoin. She later held leadership roles in China’s fast-growing live-streaming industry before partnering with Changpeng Zhao to launch Binance.

What is Yi He’s role at Binance?

Yi He oversees product development, branding, customer experience, company culture, and retail user growth. Since becoming co-CEO alongside Richard Teng, she has focused on expanding Binance’s global user base while strengthening its long-term ecosystem.

Why is Yi He considered influential in crypto?

Yi He helped transform Binance from a startup into the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange. Her emphasis on community engagement, customer service, and strategic marketing has made her one of the most influential executives in the digital asset industry.

What can entrepreneurs learn from Yi He?

Her career demonstrates that successful businesses are built through trust, execution, and customer obsession rather than technology alone. Yi He consistently shows how leadership, adaptability, and long-term thinking can create lasting competitive advantages.

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