appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Bloomberg

Binance Holdings named co-founder He Yi as co-CEO in the biggest change to its top leadership since Zhao Changpeng stepped down from running the cryptocurrency exchange two years ago.
She will share the title with Richard Teng, who succeeded Zhao as CEO of the world’s largest crypto trading venue in November 2023. Zhao, who resigned after pleading guilty to anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations, and He have children together.
Zhao was pardoned by US President Donald Trump in October, removing some of the regulatory overhang that had dogged the billionaire and the exchange he started for years. Analysts have said the pardon could make it easier for Binance to consolidate its US operations, which remain structurally separate from the global exchange.
“The impression is that: now with the pardon, let’s scale up the business,” Ben Charoenwong, associate professor of finance at INSEAD, said of He’s appointment. “We had taken a defensive stance as a firm because of potential regulatory pressure, but now we’re gonna be more clearly active at the helm.”

On her social media profile, He until now describes herself as Binance’s chief customer service officer. She has less of a public persona than Zhao, who spent the past year criss-crossing the globe meeting with public officials, regularly speaks at crypto conferences and is a prolific poster on X.
Behind the scenes, however, He has significant clout. She is credited with fuelling the growth of the Binance-initiated BNB Chain, and has also helped supervise the firm’s institutional client business, as well as acquisitions like CoinMarketCap.
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.
Zhao and He built Binance into the world’s dominant crypto exchange, often capturing in excess of 50 per cent of all spot trading. But years of fraught relations with regulators around the world came to a head in late 2023, when Binance and Zhao pleaded guilty in the US to failing to implement anti-money-laundering safeguards.
Binance agreed to a US$4.3 billion settlement and Zhao spent four months in jail. He was released in September 2024.
Teng, a Singaporean national and former regulator himself, was seen as a safe pair of hands to guide Binance through its regulatory troubles. He set about bulking up the exchange’s compliance department and has often spoken publicly about Binance’s efforts to clean up its act.
Binance has not entirely put its legal issues behind it. Late last month, more than 300 victims and family members of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas sued the exchange, claiming it “knowingly facilitated” crypto transactions by the group.
Zhao and top Binance executive Chen Guangying were named as defendants in the suit, while He was not.


Why Chelsea football shirts are making Hong Kong fans nervous about crypto laws

Inside Hong Kong’s red-hot Pokemon card market, where Pikachus sell like stocks

Bitcoin tops US$80,000 for first time since May as US moves boost crypto

Shanghai lays out plan to boost digital economy, catch up with Beijing, Shenzhen

Blockchain

Crypto giant Binance appoints co-founder He Yi as co-CEO

Binance co-founder and co-CEO He Yi speaks at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival in April. Photo: Matt Haldane

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng. Photo: Reuters

Beijing’s crypto warning casts shadow over Hong Kong’s stablecoin ambitions

The People’s Bank of China has said  stablecoins do not meet the mainland’s requirements on customer identification and anti-money laundering. Photo: Shutterstock 

Beijing’s warning now challenges Hong Kong’s efforts to become a stablecoin hub. Photo: Shutterstock

Hong Kong’s biggest crypto exchange HashKey wins listing nod in test of investor appetite

HashKey is one of 11 licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

The digital asset trading market remains heavily reliant on concentrated tokens, particularly bitcoin and ether. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese crypto founders shelve US$500 million ether digital asset treasury project

Delaying the ether digital asset treasury project would avoid causing losses for its investors. Photo: Shutterstock

After surging to records in early October, bitcoin has now dropped more than 30 per cent. Photo: Shutterstock

US, China ramp up actions against transnational crypto scam syndicates

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin play a major role in sophisticated criminal enterprises that involve complex money-laundering networks. Photo: Shutterstock 

She Zhijiang, who is accused by Beijing of running illegal online gambling operations, is escorted by police at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand’s Samut Prakarn province ahead of being extradited to China on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Tech

Business

Cryptocurrency

Companies

He, who has children together with founder Zhao Changpeng, will share the title with Richard Teng


He, who has children together with founder Zhao Changpeng, will share the title with Richard Teng.


Binance

Tech CEOs

Zhao Changpeng

Donald Trump

Crypto giant Binance appoints co-founder He Yi as co-CEO

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}He, who has children together with founder Zhao Changpeng, will share the title with Richard Teng

He, who has children together with founder Zhao Changpeng, will share the title with Richard Teng