Yi He

Before Binance: understanding an audience

Before entering cryptocurrency, Yi He worked in television. She later held roles at OKCoin and became Vice President at Yixia Technology, the company behind mobile-video applications including Miaopai, Xiaokaxiu and Yizhibo.

At Yixia, her work covered branding strategy and marketing operations. Consumer applications depend on more than their underlying technology: people need a reason to try them, understand them and return. That experience formed part of the background she brought to Binance.

Her earlier work at OKCoin also gave her experience within a cryptocurrency exchange. By the time she joined the team building Binance, she had worked across both digital audiences and the services through which people accessed crypto.

Helping build Binance from its early days

Yi He co-founded Binance with Changpeng Zhao in 2017. Her contribution centred on the business, brand and relationship with users, complementing the technical and operational work of the wider team.

An exchange needs people on both sides of a market. It also needs customers to understand its products and feel able to get help when something goes wrong. Marketing, communication and customer experience therefore become part of how the business operates, rather than activities that happen only after the technology is built.

Binance’s official biography credits Yi He with leading business, marketing and branding strategy. That provides a more useful account of her contribution than attributing the company’s growth to a single campaign or personality.

Keeping users close to the business

Yi He has often been associated with Binance’s “Chief Customer Service Officer” title. The description reflects the importance the company has placed on her connection with its users and community.

For an exchange, customer feedback can expose problems that headline trading figures do not show. A confusing interface, an unclear announcement or difficulty getting support can affect someone’s experience even when the trading system itself is working.

That makes communication an operational concern. People arriving through interest in Bitcoin may have very different levels of knowledge about wallets, trading and custody. Serving them requires more than assuming that every user already understands how a crypto platform works.

A user-focused approach is a stated priority, however, rather than a guarantee that every customer has a good experience. It should be assessed through the products, support and decisions that users actually encounter.

Taking on responsibility at Binance Labs

In August 2022, Binance appointed Yi He to lead Binance Labs, its venture-capital and incubation operation at the time. The appointment expanded her responsibilities beyond the exchange’s own products to supporting other founders and projects.

The role involved investment strategy and the development of businesses building within the wider crypto industry. It added another perspective to her work: understanding what an early-stage team needed to turn an idea into a usable product.

Binance Labs subsequently rebranded as YZi Labs. Her earlier appointment remains an important career milestone, but it should not be used on its own to establish her current title within the rebranded organisation.

Investment activity should also be kept distinct from exchange listings. Support for a project does not guarantee a listing, commercial success or a return for token holders.

Becoming co-CEO alongside Richard Teng

Binance announced Yi He’s appointment as co-CEO on December 3, 2025. She joined Richard Teng in a shared leadership structure, formalising a broader executive role after years of involvement in the company.

The appointment brought together different professional backgrounds. Yi He’s experience includes Binance’s development, its users and its commercial strategy. Teng’s career includes financial regulation and leadership within financial-market institutions.

Their positions should be described accurately: Binance has co-CEOs, and Yi He’s current role extends beyond marketing. Changpeng Zhao’s former CEO position is a separate part of the company’s history.

The direction she has described publicly

In a May 2026 essay published by Binance, Yi He described financial inclusion and reaching people outside established financial centres as priorities. She also discussed an ambition to expand Binance’s audience substantially.

Those statements explain the direction she advocates. They are goals, rather than evidence that the intended outcomes have already been achieved.

The practical questions behind that ambition are familiar: can people understand the service, access appropriate products and get help when they need it? Growing an audience also increases the responsibility to communicate clearly and operate reliably.

Understanding her place in the industry

Yi He’s career connects consumer communication with the work of building and leading a cryptocurrency business. Her contribution is primarily commercial and organisational, encompassing users, products, partnerships and executive leadership.

The wider Binance ecosystem also includes associations with BNB and BNB Chain. These should be distinguished from the exchange company itself. A corporate leadership role does not mean that one executive personally operates every application or controls every participant in a blockchain network.

Her profile is best understood through the work she has actually held responsibility for: helping establish Binance, developing its relationship with users, leading an investment initiative and now sharing responsibility for the company’s direction.