How Crypto's Most Powerful Woman is Leading Her Company Forward Yi He's visionary leadership and market savvy are redefining the future of global crypto exchanges.

Few names carry the weight in crypto that Yi He does. Yi He founded Binance alongside CZ and transformed it into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. From a rural Chinese village to "crypto's most powerful woman", her story shows resilience, strategic thinking, and user dedication.

Her influence appears in the crypto exchange's massive numbers. Binance now serves 280+ million users with cumulative trading volume exceeding USD 125 trillion, numbers that dwarf many traditional financial markets. This success stems from Yi He's user-first approach, something she's pushed since the company's earliest days.

From a Village in Sichuan to the 'First Sister of the Coin Circle'

Yi He's childhood in a small Sichuan province village centered around her parents' work as teachers. Poverty marked those early years, particularly after losing her father at age nine. That difficult period built the toughness she'd need later in crypto's volatile markets. After university, she hosted a televised travel show that sharpened her communication abilities but served mainly as a stepping stone.

Her crypto entry came in 2014 when she joined OKCoin as Vice President of Marketing. Impact? Immediate and profound. Through aggressive, effective campaigns, she helped the platform grab an estimated 60 per cent of China's Bitcoin trading market. People started calling her "First Sister of the Coin Circle." During this period, she met Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, a programmer with deep trading systems expertise, and convinced him to join OKCoin as Chief Technology Officer.

The partnership worked, but didn't last long. Company direction disagreements led both Yi He and CZ to leave in 2015. Two years later, in July 2017, CZ suggested starting their own exchange. Yi agreed, joining as co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer.

She rewrote the company's whitepaper right away, sharpening its vision. Her marketing background and industry connections drove Binance's rapid growth, and the platform captured the world's largest exchange position by trading volume within six months. Her user-first philosophy became core company culture; she famously required every new hire, regardless of position, to spend initial weeks in customer service.

A Tale of Exceptional Growth

The foundation Yi He built supports a financial ecosystem of unprecedented scale. Since its inception, Binance has processed over USD 125 trillion in transactions. This market leadership emerged in an environment where top digital assets consistently outperformed traditional benchmarks. Data from August 2025 shows Ethereum delivering 36 per cent year-to-date returns and Bitcoin posting 18 per cent gains, both significantly outpacing the S&P 500's 10 per cent performance.

In the meantime, the cryptocurrency market's capitalization increased 9.9 per cent YTD even after a pullback in the first quarter. Sectors like DeFi, RWAs, and stablecoins even outperformed this growth, with gains exceeding 38 per cent.

Binance didn't just capture growth; it drove it. As the company matured, Yi He's role expanded. In 2022, she became the leader of Binance Labs, the venture capital arm now rebranded as independently operated YZi Labs, managing over USD 10 billion in assets across 200+ blockchain projects.

"Part of the journey of seeing Binance grow, especially through tough market conditions, has been the ability to identify those founders who have the skills and embody the values needed to thrive in an environment where resources are more limited. As a leading player in the space, my goal is to help define the industry standard by identifying and supporting sustainable projects and building an ecosystem of quality blockchain solutions that empower the entire industry," said Yi.

Yi continued, "It is a foregone conclusion that Web3 will reach one billion new users in the next five years. However, Web3 will only truly become mainstream when its products weave seamlessly into users' lives. To expedite widespread adoption, we need to focus our resources on supporting those projects that will push the boundaries of Web3 technology and create products that provide solutions to real-world problems."

Her influence shows in successful products like Binance Earn, which has generated USD 50 billion for users. The platform now processes an average of 217 million spot and futures trades daily. All while Binance maintains a 41 per cent share in the global spot trading market as of June 2025.

This sustained growth became even more critical after the company's USD 4.3 billion settlement with US authorities in late 2023. With CZ stepping down as CEO, Yi He provided crucial leadership continuity. She worked with new CEO Richard Teng to navigate the transition, reinforcing compliance frameworks while keeping operational strength intact.

Markets responded with confidence. Binance's institutional user base jumped 97 per cent in the twelve months after the leadership transition, and sophisticated financial players clearly trusted the company's new direction.

A Legacy of Leadership

Yi He's path from a remote village to global crypto industry leadership demonstrates her vision and determination. She wasn't just a co-founder in name but the strategic force behind company branding, user acquisition, and stabilization during intense uncertainty. Even when CZ left the organization, she took charge and helped Binance achieve impressive growth.

Her story connects directly with Binance's rise. Yi He leads customer operations and strategic planning today, working toward sustainable, user-focused financial infrastructure. This work has positioned her as a key player in Binance's development and across the digital asset market.