Reputation is often the most fragile currency in business. For companies rocked by scandal, studies suggest it can take more than a decade to regain lost trust. Yet Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has managed to rebound far more swiftly. Rather than retreat, the company seized the moment to reposition itself as a globally regulated player, signaling a new era of compliance and transparency in crypto.
At the center of that pivot was Yi He, Binance’s co-founder and one of the most influential women in the digital asset industry. Drawing on her deep experience scaling disruptive tech platforms and her sharp instincts for brand strategy, Yi He became instrumental in guiding the company through turbulent times. Her leadership not only helped Binance maintain its dominance in trading volume but also reshaped its global narrative by transforming crisis into an opportunity to strengthen its foundation and future trajectory.
From Behind the Scenes to the Spotlight
As the co-founder of Binance and the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Yi He has played an instrumental role in defining the company’s trajectory in the early platform years. Before joining former CEO CZ at Binance, her track record in disruptive technology was already established, having previously been able to capture 60% of China’s market share.
Yi He is credited with expanding Binance into a global ecosystem consisting of Binance Smart Chain, which surpassed Ethereum’s trading volume by 100% and the Binance Academy, teaching over 44 million learners.
Following Binance’s settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023, Yi He assumed a more decisive leadership role in the company, assuming final decisions over personnel matters and customer strategy.
The Firm Hand Behind Binance’s Survival
Despite facing uncertainty and regulatory pushback in 2023, Binance has retained its market share in the years that followed, reaching over $93 billion in daily volume in 2025. At the center of its resilience is Yi He, who successfully infused her confidence and relentless drive into the company.
One venture capital founder noted that under Yi He’s leadership, often described as ruling with an “iron fist,” Binance has transformed and continued to seize global opportunities despite its potential shortcomings.
Binance appointed former Singapore regulator Richard Teng as CEO, steering the company into a more favorable direction. Even so, power remained concentrated in the hands of Zhao, Yi He, and two other Binance executives.
As a result of increased command over internal operations, Binance reached over 280 million users and registered a 100% YoY in trading volume in Q1 of 2025. Maybe even more impressive is Yi’s masterful navigation of regulatory complexity which has resulted in influencing many of the positive reforms globally we’ve seen over the last year. This has resulted in more TradFi integration and institutional involvement. As Yi Hi recently commented on this trend, “Crypto isn’t just the future of finance – it’s already reshaping the system, one day at a time.”
Reshaping Binance for a New Era
Yi He’s role at Binance has been central in providing more explicit strategic guidance for the platform’s future. In January 2025, Binance established its first board, consisting of the CEO and seven other members, to help establish corporate governance. With 67% of financial institutions emphasizing corporate governance as a key trust factor in their decisions, the growing institutional interest in crypto could favorably position Binance in the market.
Binance has forced itself to reshape its vision and embrace legal constraints, and under Yi He, the company embraced regulation and positioned itself favorably to enable mass adoption through structure. As a result of Binance’s compliance with regulation, Singapore and Dubai (its main MENA hub) perceive Binance as a global industry partner rather than a disruptor.
Customer-First Strategy Priority
A defining characteristic under Yi He is the customer-first approach. Her experience in building Binance differed from her approach to customer relations, where she still prioritized customer engagement and community. For that reason, Binance recently launched the “Humans of Binance” campaign, which shares user stories of how crypto can make a real difference. One example is from a user named Mahmud that examples how the crypto community impacted his family’s life.
“A few years ago, my son had cerebral palsy, and it was a struggle to afford his medical care,” he wrote. “After discovering Binance and learning to trade, I earned enough to buy him a wheelchair. He is gone now, but Binance helped me in that tough time. I’m forever grateful.”
Yi is community-driven, which helps shape Binance’s position in global markets. For that reason, Binance has seen sharp increases in emerging countries and is adapting to rapidly changing market demands – such as growing in Southeast Asia.
Binance’s continued dominance validates this strategy. In June 2025, the exchange accounted for 39% of centralized exchange trading volume, and by July, it held a 39.8% market share with $698.3 billion in trading volume, maintaining its lead despite the rise of new competitors.
Yi has also positioned Dubai as a strategic partner, leveraging its open regulatory environment to expand Binance’s presence across the Middle East and Europe.
Binance’s customer-first approach has been shaped by Yi He over the years. Features like Binance Pay and Binance Wallet extend beyond trading, embedding Binance’s ecosystem into daily financial activity and strengthening loyalty among a global user base.
With these tools in place, Binance is positioned to capture a greater share of the $277.8 billion stablecoin market as regulatory setbacks are transforming into opportunities. With its ecosystem already serving nearly 280 million active users, clearer rules could act as an on-ramp for wider crypto adoption, enabling integration into payments, remittances, and settlement systems.
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