This article reviews in detail the development and entrepreneurial journey of Binance co-founder He Yi. The content is rich and the article is long. I hope you can read it patiently and experience Yi Jie's extraordinary life with Bu Ai.
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Not long ago, a letter of appeal written to the US federal court attracted much attention.
I believe everyone knows it later: In November 2023, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, received a "huge fine" of US$4.3 billion from the U.S. Department of Justice. Its founder CZ Zhao Changpeng was sentenced to 4 months in prison and subsequently resigned as CEO.
24 hours after the news of the SEC's lawsuit was announced, over $3 billion of crypto assets were withdrawn from Binance, with a net outflow of $1.43 billion. Subsequently, the SEC applied for an asset freeze on Binance.US, delisted multiple trading pairs within one day, and several Binance executives resigned.
The platform coin $BNB standing at the center of the vortex also suffered a heavy blow, plummeting 30% in a short period of time, from 313 US dollars to 213 US dollars in a short period of time.
Binance, once the largest exchange, has become a large-scale disaster scene where everyone is in danger.
A whopping 4.3 billion yuan fine, CEO resignation, senior executives leaving, and BNB plummeting have caused panic in the crypto market and Binance has fallen into its darkest hour.
New investors may not understand this, but veteran investors should know that Binance has encountered many similar FUD events in history. At these critical moments, there is always a woman who stepped forward to resolve the crisis and lead Binance to overcome difficulties and move to a higher level.
Not only has she saved Binance from disaster many times, she has also helped build Binance's $700 billion business empire and become one of the richest women in the industry. Under her leadership, Binance's platform coin BNB has also achieved an astonishing 1,200-fold appreciation, becoming one of the most successful platform coins in history.
This woman is He Yi.
The godmother of Binance and the mother of CZ's three children are just a small part of this woman's legendary life. Her life story is very exciting: she has long been the richest woman in the cryptocurrency circle, and her partner CZ once became the richest Chinese in the world.
But I don’t think that what makes He Yi most admirable is her bold entrepreneurial spirit. Her entrepreneurial journey has swept almost all of the world’s Internet unicorn companies, and wherever she goes, it has caused huge waves in the capital market and traffic.
Today, let’s talk in depth about the woman behind CZ Zhao Changpeng and explore her story and contributions to Binance.
Dare to take risks and show business insight
It is well known that He Yi once worked as a host in her early entrepreneurial career. But if you ask her what she did before that, many people may not know.
Yijie's growth process is complex and extraordinary, and it cannot be explained in a few simple sentences. Today, through the detailed interpretation of Bu Ai, I believe everyone can have a comprehensive understanding of her story.
He Yi, formerly known as He Ying, was born in 1986 in a remote rural area of Sichuan Province. She studied hard since she was young and her grades were always among the best. At that time, little He was different from others. She was very daring and adventurous, which can be seen from her later experiences.
Yijie's parents are both teachers. When her peers were still in kindergarten, she had already started first grade in elementary school at the age of five. She preferred reading books to playing with other classmates, so He Yi often ranked first in exams.
Her studious and hardworking qualities began to show when she was five years old.
He Yi has had a strong interest in business and money since she was young, thanks to the large number of entrepreneurial books she read.
In 2000, with the deepening of reform and opening up, people's living standards and consumption capabilities improved significantly, and sugar substitute drinks and dairy drinks began to become popular in the market. 16-year-old He Yi keenly grasped this business opportunity, so in addition to her busy studies, she started working part-time as a beverage promoter, earning 1,000 yuan a month.
At that time, the average monthly wage in China was only 775 yuan. For a 16-year-old girl to have such an income, her business acumen was definitely far beyond that of ordinary people.
At the age of 18, He Yi easily became the manager of a home furnishings store with his extraordinary talent. At that time, store managers were usually middle-aged people, but He Yi showed excellent business management skills and was able to manage both accounts and people on his own.
In 2006, 20-year-old He Yi studied for a master's degree in psychology in Beijing. After obtaining the qualification certificate, she found that psychology was not widely popular in China and realized that the economic and commercial value that a psychology major could bring to her was limited. With her keen insight into business, she decided to change her mindset.
So He Yi, who had been working as an assistant psychological counselor for a while, quit his job and went to Lijiang alone. It happened that his friend's school was recruiting class teachers. With a background in psychology, He Yi was able to communicate with people quickly and build trust, so he was assigned to manage the art department. Most of these students were free and undisciplined and difficult to manage. He Yi used his professional knowledge of psychology, business insight and ability to deal with difficulties to successfully manage this class.
She later recalled: "My sense of responsibility and ability to manage and communicate with young people improved by leaps and bounds during that time." Although this experience may seem ordinary in her rich career, it has tempered her sense of responsibility, strengthened her ability to communicate with people and manage collective collaboration, and laid a solid foundation for her later creation and management of Binance.
Turning point in life: first encounter with Bitcoin
In 2012, He Yi became the field host of "Beautiful Destinations" and "Go As Far As You Can" on Travel Satellite TV, and served as the host of "Beijing New Discoveries" on Beijing Satellite TV.
This new role not only laid the foundation for her later management and team collaboration at Binance, but also provided her with valuable experience in Binance's user growth and market share competition.
Although the story is inspiring enough up to this point, for Yijie, her entrepreneurial journey has just begun.
He Yi knows that the host industry is highly competitive and that it is difficult to last long just by relying on appearance. She prefers to communicate with people in the entrepreneurial circle to learn about investment, projects and entrepreneurial knowledge. She once said: "What I really want to do is to start a business and create something different."
In 2014, WeChat launched the mobile phone red envelope function, which became popular on the Internet. At that time, the cryptocurrency bear market was in full swing, and the startup 0KC0in was in urgent need of attracting new users. So 0KC0in found He Yi and hoped that she could promote Bitcoin red envelopes in WeChat Moments.
After researching and understanding Bitcoin, He Yi helped 0KC0in post a red envelope on WeChat Moments, leaving a message saying "Spring Festival red envelope, Smecta!"
In order to thank those who helped distribute red envelopes, 0KC0in organized a party, where He Yi met 0KC0in's founder Xu Mingxing for the first time.
He Yi has rich experience in media traffic and marketing, while 0KC0in, as a start-up exchange, has top technology and products but lacks marketing talent. Yijie also realizes the uncertainty of her hosting career and is considering changing careers and starting a business.
So the two of them hit it off immediately.
In March 2014, He Yi joined 0KC0in as vice president, responsible for brand building and marketing promotion. This marked the official start of her entrepreneurial journey as the richest woman in the cryptocurrency circle.
Officially entered the cryptocurrency circle and became the "number one"
Xu Mingxing has a unique eye for selecting people.
After He Yi joined, 0KC0in's performance soared, user growth doubled, and advertisements even appeared in New York's Times Square. The transaction volume soared to 60% of the domestic Bitcoin transaction volume, and He Yi was therefore hailed as the "No. 1 Sister".
In 2014, He Yi held an event for 0KC0in in Hangzhou, and CZ, who was working at Blockchain.info at the time, was invited as a guest.
There is a little-known point that He Yi is the leader who led CZ all in the cryptocurrency circle (especially exchange business).
He Yi admired CZ's talent and added each other on WeChat after the event. CZ's intelligence and expertise convinced her. At that time, 0KC0in happened to be short of a CTO, so He Yi invited CZ to join.
CZ lived up to expectations. In addition to being responsible for 0KC0in's product development and technology, he also used his excellent English skills to carry out overseas market promotion.
In 2014, the "Iron Triangle" of the crypto industry was formed.
Today, Binance and OK both have assets of over 100 billion, and the founders are worth over 10 billion. It can be said that without He Yi, there would be no OK and Binance today. To put it in a broader sense, without He Yi, the crypto industry today would also be very different.
The iron triangle of the cryptocurrency circle has fallen apart, and the top cryptocurrency star has retired.
Senior veterans may know that Xu Mingxing was a technical person, and the joining of CZ, who was also a technical person, was only icing on the cake for OK at that time.
The two had conflicts from time to time due to differences in decision-making and technical implementation, which eventually led to CZ leaving 0KC0in, and He Yi, as CZ's introducer, was also in an awkward position.
In the second half of 2015, He Yi also chose to leave OKCoin. As one of the members of OKCoin's golden iron triangle, He Yi once held a high position. After leaving, she signed a non-compete agreement and was not allowed to join other exchanges within a few years.
After leaving OK, He Yi only had 100,000 yuan in cash in addition to some bitcoins. Although many of her peers offered her high salaries and expressed their willingness to compensate her for her non-compete, she rejected the olive branches thrown by her peers based on professional ethics and discipline, and had to temporarily withdraw from the cryptocurrency circle.
But with his excellent moral qualities and professional abilities, He Yi was recommended to the founder of "Yixia Technology".
"Yixia Technology" is a pioneer in the field of live streaming and short videos. Its products Yizhibo, Xiaokaxiu and Miaopai are all leaders in the industry.
In 2016, Yizhibo, led by He Yi, successfully signed Korean star Song Joong-ki, setting a record for live broadcast viewing.
Yijie personally led the team to fight in the live broadcast market, and single-handedly promoted the rise of Yizhibo, Miaopai, and Xiaokaxiu. Among them, Yizhibo once became the live broadcast platform of choice for people in the cryptocurrency circle, and many bigwigs joined in.
In 2017, Yixia Technology took advantage of the live streaming boom and developed rapidly, but Yijie chose to leave at this time.
From being a rural grassroots to a teacher, then to changing careers as a host, supporting OK, and joining the technology industry, He Yi's annual salary easily exceeded one million. If you were in this position, what would you choose? Would you just retire and live a comfortable life?
But Sister No. 1 is Sister No. 1 after all. The fact that she has this title in the cryptocurrency circle is enough to show that her resilience is definitely different from that of ordinary people.
The No.1 sister is back! Cryptocurrency
In July 2017, Binance issued its platform coin BNB at an issue price of $1, but soon after the price fell below the issue price to $0.5. Binance was in trouble, the community was dissatisfied, and the market was pessimistic. CZ and the team worked all night to find a solution, but the effect was minimal.
As BNB prices continued to fall, market panic spread, community supporters turned to opponents, and investors began to question. Binance was besieged on all sides, CZ couldn't sleep at night, and was exhausted physically and mentally. In desperation, he contacted He Yi, his former colleague at 0KC0in, hoping to get her help.
On August 8, 2017, He Yi announced her departure from Yixia Technology. The “No. 1 Lady” who had briefly left the cryptocurrency circle decided to make a high-profile comeback and work with CZ again as CMO to jointly build Binance.
He Yi's ability to break through and fight FUD has been highly recognized, and veteran investors have responded strongly to her joining. As soon as the news of He Yi joining Binance was announced, the price of BNB rose and the trading volume surged. Half a month after He Yi took office, the price of BNB soared from $0.149 to $2.57, an increase of more than 20 times.
Yijie also brought the operating experience of Yizhibo to Binance, and attracted a lot of traffic to Binance through live broadcasts of free coins and luxury cars. On August 22, she and Justin Sun live broadcasted and talked about the TRON project. 500 million TRON were sold in 53 seconds, and TRON was recognized as the "No. 1 ICO project" in 2017.
He Yi also successfully introduced Sequoia Capital as an investor for Binance, and signed a letter of intent with Sequoia China, which valued Binance at RMB 500 million. CZ and Yijie became legends in the industry.
However, the road to entrepreneurship is never smooth. On September 4, 2017, the Chinese government launched a heavy blow to the cryptocurrency industry, requiring exchanges to stop serving Chinese users and cracking down on ICO and other token issuance and financing activities.
Apple removed its exchange app from its China store, Bitcoin prices plummeted, the market fell into panic, and everyone thought that cryptocurrency was going to die.
At this time, He Yi had only joined Binance for less than a month.
Binance rises against the trend
In the crypto market where risks and opportunities coexist, Binance, as an emerging exchange, can only seek breakthroughs in the chaos, and the "94 Incident" in 2017 became an opportunity for it to overtake.
Binance's servers are registered overseas, and given the foreign nationality of its founder CZ, Binance's internationalization journey has become a natural thing.
I believe that many old investors are impressed by the unique liquidation method adopted by Binance after the "94 Incident": not according to the issue price as per industry practice, but according to the market price, to ensure that users can get back the full value of their assets.
Although this decision caused Binance to suffer losses in the short term, it won the trust of the industry and users.
After that, He Yi promoted Binance on social media despite the pressure and recommended scientific Internet tutorials to users, which attracted a large number of "helpless" mainland users. Binance's trading volume and number of users soared again.
In December 2017, six months after He Yi joined Binance, BNB soared 200 times, the number of users exceeded 50 billion, CZ appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine, Binance became the world's number one cryptocurrency trading platform, and He Yi firmly sat in the position of "No. 1 Sister".
But the good times did not last long. In March 2018, Binance was attacked by hackers. The assets in user accounts were traded into Bitcoin, causing the prices of all tokens to fall. The market panicked and sold off, and Binance was drowned in the criticism of "embezzlement and blaming hackers."
To make matters worse, in April, the investment dispute between Binance and Sequoia China also made headlines in the media.
At this difficult time, He Yi stood up again, speaking out to clarify the situation and ease the relationship.
In 2018, He Yi and Binance ranked first in search volume, media information volume and other data, with exposure far exceeding other competitors. He Yi's influence in the currency circle must have been obvious to all.
After the "94 Incident", exchanges began to downplay the "Chinese elements" and chose to go overseas. However, due to He Yi's poor English, as Binance went overseas, she gradually retreated behind the scenes, leaving it to CZ to step forward and face the public.
Although she has gradually retreated behind the scenes, He Yi is still busy with Binance and involved in various businesses. She calls herself Binance's "chief customer service" and is active in the community day and night to solve user problems as soon as possible.
Yijie said that she only has one job at Binance: working for BNB holders.
Even though the price of BNB has risen from $0.5 to more than $600, she said: "I still feel that the responsibility is heavy."
It can only be He Yi
On June 18, 2017, CZ, who was starting a business, had a meal with He Yi. This is the beginning of the story.
After 7 years of development, Binance has become the world's largest cryptocurrency trading platform, and Yijie has also grown from a budding entrepreneur to a mother of 4 children (the 4th "child" is of course Binance).
As Binance said on its 6th anniversary official website, "Binance's success as the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is inseparable from the business strategy created by He Yi and her team. She transformed Binance from a currency-to-currency trading platform into a global blockchain ecosystem."
In the fierce market competition, Binance was able to break through and occupy more than 60% of the market share, which fully demonstrates the importance of He Yi's strategic vision and personnel strategy to the company.
When CZ retired, many people were worried about the future of Binance, thinking that Binance might decline and its business empire might collapse. But now it seems that Binance still holds the top spot among cryptocurrency exchanges and is working towards compliance.
No one is better suited for Binance than He Yi. She is always there to answer customers’ seemingly trivial questions late at night, and she also stands up to fight back against FUD when the market is turbulent.
When asked about his annual salary at Binance, He Yi said casually: "It's just pocket money, I don't pay much attention to it."
"She's pretty" is many people's first impression of He Yi, but they don't know the huge power hidden behind this woman.
Seven years have passed, and the future of Binance still needs He Yi's wisdom and leadership. She is not only the co-founder of Binance, but also the key force driving Binance forward.
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