Binance Names Co-Founder Yi He as Co-CEO; Will Lead Firm Alongside Richard Teng

Binance has named co-founder Yi He as the firm's co-chief executive officer alongside Richard Teng, as part of its newly restructured leadership model. This decision comes at a time when the company is looking to strengthen its long-term global expansion plans while reinforcing its focus on user-centric product development. Yi He joined Binance in 2017 and has been at the forefront of several core decisions, including branding, customer engagement and ecosystem growth. After years of leadership responsibilities, Binance will look to Yi He to steer the firm through its next phase of regulatory adoption, platform innovation and user growth. 

Yi He Joins Richard Teng as Binance Repositions Its Global Leadership Strategy

While delivering a keynote speech at the Binance Blockchain Week, Teng praised Yi He for the impact she has created for the company's vision and internal culture. Given her longstanding involvement across strategic and operational decisions, Teng described her role change as an obvious progression. Both leaders have expressed their commitment to building infrastructure for Web3 while responsibly expanding Binance's services across global markets. Yi He emphasises the importance of her appointment and noted that their shared experience across different domains, such as technology and regulated finance sectors, would play a key role in shaping Binance's international priorities. 

The Co-founder's appointment comes a year after Richard Teng formally took over the reins from Changpeng Zhao (CZ) as the CEO of the exchange. CZ had to step down from his role in 2023 after pleading guilty in the US over charges of failing to maintain adequate anti-money-laundering controls at Binance. 

The requirement of the settlement was for CZ to resign as CEO and restrict his involvement in the company's operations. Post his resignation, Binance worked to strengthen its compliance and security standards under the new leadership of Richard Teng. 

There was a lot of chatter about a possible return of Zhao in a leadership role for Binance earlier this year after US President Donald Trump announced a full pardon that lifted restrictions placed on CZ. The pardon meant that Zhao had the freedom to travel and engage in business, prompting speculation amongst many sections of the crypto community that the co-founder might resume his role as the CEO of the company. 

Binance did not comment on such expectations at the time, and the company maintained its stand on an unchanged leadership structure. 

Under shared leadership from Yi He and Richard Teng, Binance now positions itself for a broader strategic reset. The Co-CEO model is expected to meet the regulatory standards while driving innovation in a growing, competitive crypto landscape.