Crypto giant Binance appoints co-founder Yi He as co-CEO
She has been co-founder Changpeng Zhao’s partner in business and in life
[SINGAPORE] Binance Holdings named co-founder Yi He as co-chief executive officer in the biggest change to its top leadership since Changpeng Zhao stepped down from running the crypto exchange two years ago.
Yi He will share the title with Richard Teng, who succeeded Zhao as the CEO of the world’s largest crypto trading venue in November 2023.
Together with Teng, “Yi will guide Binance through its next phase of development as we strengthen our global regulatory foundations and continue building a trusted, transparent, and responsible platform for digital assets,” according to a post on X by Binance on Wednesday (Dec 3).
The appointment comes after Binance co-founder Zhao, a more prominent public persona than Yi He, was pardoned by Donald Trump in October – the latest of several digital-assets executives to win clemency from the president, who is avowedly pro-crypto.
Zhao had previously gotten in trouble for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering measures at Binance, and pleaded guilty to violations in a deal with the US government that put him in jail for four months and included a US$4.3 billion settlement with Binance.
On her X profile, Yi He currently describes herself as Binance’s chief customer service officer. She has been Zhao’s partner in business and in life. The exchange co-founders also have children together.
Zhao, who is known in crypto circles as CZ, launched Binance in 2017 and built it into the world’s dominant crypto platform.
Behind the scenes, Yi He has significant clout. She is credited with fueling the growth of the Binance-initiated BNB Chain. She has also helped supervise the firm’s institutional client business, as well as acquisitions like CoinMarketCap. BLOOMBERG
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