Yi He, Co-CEO of Binance, and the Culture Shaping Its Next Chapter

As Binance enters a new chapter, much of the attention has turned to Yi He, recently formalized as Co-CEO of Binance. International media have framed her as a “crypto queen,” a “machine of war,” the “mysterious” or the figure “pulling the strings” behind the world’s largest crypto exchange. The language is vivid, but it risks obscuring a more grounded and far more important reality.

Yi He is not a newly empowered executive. She is a co-founder who has been central to Binance since day one. Her influence did not suddenly emerge with a title. It has always been embedded in the company’s structure. What has changed is not her role, but the phase Binance has entered — and how the outside world is now trying to interpret it.

A Co-Founder Who Never Left the Center

From the outside, Yi He may appear to be “rising.” Inside Binance, she never moved.

She built the company alongside Changpeng Zhao (CZ), sharing both the professional and personal risks of scaling a startup into one of the most complex financial platforms in the world. Their partnership was not transactional. It was long-term, deeply rooted in trust, and forged under sustained pressure. Together, they built a family — three children — while Binance evolved into a life-defining project that demanded years of total commitment.

That founding dynamic matters. It explains why authority inside Binance has historically been personal rather than purely contractual, and why loyalty, endurance, and internal cohesion became defining characteristics of the organization.

A Doer, Not a Media Construct

Yi He, who also uses the Western name Sarah in international settings, has never shown much interest in media visibility, and that appears intentional. She rarely gives interviews and avoids public self-positioning. Those who have interacted with her directly describe something far more concrete than the metaphors dominating headlines.

Someone who met her earlier this month summarized her in two simple traits: she is a tough negotiator, and she is highly attentive to detail.

At Binance’s scale, these are not stylistic preferences. Negotiation is about protecting long-term leverage and institutional positioning, not winning short-term visibility. Attention to detail is not micromanagement; it is essential in an industry where regulatory, operational, or technical gaps can escalate quickly.

This is the profile of a founder still operating close to the machinery of the company — not a symbolic figure elevated by circumstance.

Culture Is Not a Concept — It Is Yi He’s Operating System

To understand Yi He as Co-CEO of Binance, one must understand Chinese founder culture, because she does not separate leadership from culture. She embodies it.

Western leadership models often prioritize visibility, personal branding, and explicit accountability frameworks. Chinese founder culture operates differently. Authority is built through continuity, shared history, and long-term trust. Loyalty is not renegotiated each quarter; it is established over time. Discipline and internal cohesion matter more than public signaling.

Yi He leads within this logic. She does not govern through constant communication or performative reassurance. She governs through presence, memory, and execution. Once direction is set, it is enforced internally rather than debated publicly.

This cultural framework is frequently misunderstood in Western commentary and helps explain why Chinese founders are often framed as opaque or confrontational. China itself has long worked to preserve its operating logic — from building its own internet ecosystem to maintaining parallel platforms and rules of engagement. The same instinct to protect internal coherence shaped how Binance was built and how it endured its most turbulent years.

Why Richard Teng — and Why That Choice Makes Sense

This cultural lens is also key to understanding why Binance appointed Richard Teng as CEO — and later formalized a co-CEO structure alongside Yi He.

If Binance were ever to pursue a public listing, Richard Teng would be the right person to take that forward. His regulatory background, institutional credibility, and fluency in governance align precisely with what public markets expect. An IPO is less about growth and more about disclosure, predictability, and regulator confidence — areas where Teng’s experience is highly relevant.

But an IPO is a strategic option, not a default outcome.

Absent that objective, Binance does not need to reshape itself into a public-market company. And that distinction explains both why Richard was chosen and how his role should be understood.

He was not brought in to overwrite founder culture or replace internal authority. He was brought in to absorb external pressure, stabilize regulatory relationships, and preserve optionality during a sensitive phase. In other words, he was chosen as a complement to the founders — not a break from them.