Richard

United

Wednesday

Binance appointed co-founder Yi He as co-CEO, elevating one of its earliest architects to a formal leadership role alongside chief executive Richard Teng.
In a Wednesday <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/leadership/4951765043144430728" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">announcement</a> on stage at Binance Blockchain Week, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/richard-teng" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">Teng</a> said co-founder Yi He had been appointed co-CEO. Teng said He “has been an integral part of the executive leadership team since the launch of Binance,” calling the appointment “a natural progression.”
Teng added that He, Binance’s chief marketing officer before her appointment as co-CEO, is crucial in expanding Binance’s community and driving product innovation. Yi He said that sharing the CEO role with Teng will leverage two very different perspectives, with Teng bringing his experience in regulated financial markets.
Yi He is a crypto native who co-founded Binance in 2017 alongside Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
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 Yi He’s appointment announcement image. Source: <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/leadership/4951765043144430728" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Binance</a>
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<h2 id="two-backgrounds-one-leadership-team">Two backgrounds, one leadership team</h2>
Teng was appointed as <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-richard-teng-ceo-amid-changpeng-zhao-s-forced-departure" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">Binance’s CEO back in late November 2023</a> after CZ resigned and pleaded guilty to charges levied against him by the US Department of Justice. Before that, Teng had served as the company’s head of regional markets outside the United States.
Teng started his career as an auditor at the Big Four auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 1997, where he worked for 13 years, holding senior roles, including director of corporate finance.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-volatility-binance-ceo-market-comparison" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">Binance CEO says Bitcoin volatility matches broader markets amid 35% decline</a>
Yi He has well over a decade of experience at the forefront of the crypto industry and was among the Binance leaders who helped the platform rise to become a market leader.
She not only co-founded Binance in 2017 and <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/07/18/binance-female-cofounder-he-yi-cz-crypto-blockchain/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">OkCoin in 2014</a> — the crypto exchange now known as OKX — but also <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/leadership/7305725005116378288" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">headed</a> Binance’s venture capital arm, Binance Labs, since 2022 and <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/about" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">led</a> the exchange’s business, marketing, and branding strategy.
He was also <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/the-crypto-queen-pulling-the-strings-at-binance-1e6dfeb5" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/the-crypto-queen-pulling-the-strings-at-binance-1e6dfeb5">reported</a> to own at least 10% of a Cayman-registered holding company associated with Binance back in 2023, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“She was also a fundamental part of the fundraising strategy that drove the firm’s valuation to [over $3] billion,” Binance’s about page states. <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-crypto-service-wealth-managers-family-offices" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">Binance launched a concierge-style service</a> in November designed for family offices, asset managers and private funds that are unfamiliar with crypto. Binance also began accepting BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund as off-exchange collateral, allowing institutions to trade while <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-blackrock-buidl-off-exchange-collateral-traders" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">keeping their assets with custodians</a>.
At the end of September, the exchange <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-offers-crypto-as-a-service-solution-for-tradfi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">launched its own crypto-as-a-service solution</a> for licensed banks, brokerages and stock exchanges looking to offer crypto services to their clients. In early August, Binance <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-bbva-crypto-custody-partnership" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">partnered with BBVA</a>, one of Spain’s biggest banks, to act as an independent custodian for customer funds.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-banks-stablecoin-fight/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight</a>

Binance names co-founder Yi He co-CEO alongside Richard Teng

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