Title: Binance Co-Founder Yi He Appointed as Co-CEO Alongside Richard Teng: A Strategic Leadership Evolution
Introduction
In a significant development for the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has announced a pivotal evolution in its executive leadership. The company has appointed its co-founder, Yi He, to the role of Co-Chief Executive Officer, where she will serve alongside current CEO Richard Teng. This move represents a strategic consolidation of leadership, bringing together the deep institutional knowledge and foundational vision of a company founder with the regulatory and operational expertise of the seasoned executive who steered the exchange through a landmark settlement with U.S. authorities. The appointment underscores Binance's ongoing transition from its rapid-growth startup phase into a mature, compliance-focused global financial entity. For the crypto industry at large, this dual-leadership structure at the helm of its most influential trading platform signals a new chapter focused on stability, user trust, and sustainable growth.
The Announcement: Formalizing a Foundational Role
The appointment of Yi He as Co-CEO formalizes a leadership role she has effectively occupied for years, albeit without the official title. As a co-founder of Binance, Yi He has been instrumental in shaping the company's trajectory since its inception in 2017. Her responsibilities have historically spanned critical areas including Binance Labs (the venture capital and incubation arm), Binance Launchpad (the token launch platform), and oversight of the exchange's listing team. By elevating her to the co-CEO position, Binance is publicly recognizing and structuring the immense internal influence and strategic direction she has long provided.
This leadership model places two distinct but complementary figures at the top. Richard Teng, who assumed the CEO role in November 2023 following the departure of founder Changpeng Zhao, brings a background steeped in traditional finance and regulatory frameworks from his prior roles at the Abu Dhabi Global Market and the Singapore Exchange. Yi He provides the intrinsic understanding of Binance's culture, product ecosystem, and core crypto-native community. This pairing is designed to balance external regulatory engagement with internal product and innovation continuity.
Yi He's Historical Influence and Product Legacy
To understand the significance of Yi He's promotion, one must examine her legacy within Binance's product ecosystem. Long before this appointment, her fingerprints were on some of the exchange's most successful and defining initiatives. As the lead for Binance Labs, she oversaw strategic investments in hundreds of blockchain projects during various market cycles, building an extensive portfolio that extends Binance's influence across the Web3 landscape. This role positioned her not just as an exchange executive but as a central figure in venture funding within the crypto sector.
Furthermore, her oversight of Binance Launchpad placed her at the heart of the exchange's token offering platform, which has been used to launch numerous high-profile projects. The criteria and selection process for these listings, developed under her purview, have had a substantial impact on market trends and project visibility. Her new role as Co-CEO suggests these core functions—investment, incubation, and listings—will remain tightly integrated with the exchange's overall corporate strategy, now with even greater executive alignment.
Contextualizing the Leadership Shift: Post-Settlement Stability
This leadership announcement cannot be viewed in isolation; it is a direct continuation of Binance's restructuring following its historic $4.3 billion settlement with United States authorities in November 2023. That settlement resolved years-long investigations by the Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and others, and included the guilty plea and subsequent stepping down of then-CEO Changpeng Zhao. Richard Teng was appointed CEO at that time to lead what the company termed a "new chapter" focused on compliance, security, and transparency.
The appointment of Yi He as Co-CEO several months later appears to be a deliberate next step in stabilizing and future-proofing the company's governance. After an initial period where Teng focused on reassuring regulators and institutional partners, this move reinforces internal cohesion by ensuring the founder's vision remains centrally embedded in daily operations. It is a structure aimed at preventing any potential rift between "the new compliance-focused guard" and "the original builder team," instead merging these priorities under a unified command.
A Comparative Look at Crypto Exchange Leadership Models
The co-CEO model is not unprecedented in technology or finance, but its application in major cryptocurrency exchanges offers an interesting point of comparison. Historically, crypto exchanges have often been led by singular, charismatic founders—figures like Changpeng Zhao at Binance or Brian Armstrong at Coinbase. This model emphasized agility and visionary product development but sometimes drew scrutiny regarding centralized decision-making and regulatory preparedness.
Binance's new dual-leadership structure represents a conscious shift away from that archetype towards a more corporate, shared-responsibility framework. It can be contrasted with other major platforms: Coinbase operates under a clear single CEO (Brian Armstrong) with a traditional C-suite; Kraken has maintained founder-led leadership with Jesse Powell and now Dave Ripley; while other Asian exchanges like OKX also operate under a primary CEO model. Binance's adoption of a co-CEO approach may signal an industry maturation where complex global operations—spanning product innovation, vast global compliance landscapes, and institutional outreach—are seen as too multifaceted for a single executive to manage comprehensively.
Defining the Co-CEO Roles: Division of Labor and Strategic Focus
While specific details of the internal reporting structure are proprietary, based on their established backgrounds, a logical division of labor can be inferred. Richard Teng’s primary focus is expected to remain externally facing: continuing direct engagement with global regulators, policymakers, and financial institutions; overseeing licensing applications in new jurisdictions; and managing the exchange's legal and compliance infrastructure worldwide. His mandate is to build lasting legitimacy for Binance within the traditional financial system.
Conversely, Yi He’s strengthened mandate will likely concentrate on internal growth vectors: driving product development and innovation across Binance’s sprawling ecosystem (including spot, futures, Earn, NFT marketplace); steering the investment strategy of Binance Labs; and guiding the core trading platform’s evolution to retain retail user loyalty and attract developers. Her role ensures that while navigating a stringent regulatory environment, Binance does not lose its competitive edge in crypto-native product offerings and community engagement. This bifurcation allows each leader to operate in their domain of greatest expertise while presenting a united strategic front.
Broader Market Implications for User Trust and Institutional Perception
For users and institutional clients of Binance, this leadership news is primarily a signal of organizational stability. The period following Changpeng Zhao's departure was one of uncertainty; market participants questioned whether trading volumes would decline or if operational hiccups would occur. Under Richard Teng’s sole leadership for several months, those fears were largely allayed as platform operations continued smoothly. The integration of Yi He as Co-CEO further reduces perceived "key person risk" by distributing leadership authority more broadly across two deeply knowledgeable executives.
For institutional partners considering or currently using Binance’s services—such as its custody solutions or institutional trading desk—the co-CEO structure may be viewed favorably. It demonstrates a formal governance framework where long-term strategic vision (He) is institutionally paired with regulatory adherence (Teng). This can be interpreted as reducing volatility in corporate direction and providing assurance that partnerships will be managed with both innovative capability and procedural rigor.
Conclusion: A Deliberate Step Towards Long-Term Permanence
The appointment of Yi He as Co-CEO alongside Richard Teng is far more than a simple executive title change. It is a calculated organizational design choice aimed at securing Binance’s future. The move acknowledges that for Binance to thrive in its next decade, it must simultaneously excel at two challenging tasks: operating as a compliant global financial services entity and remaining the most innovative and user-centric platform in crypto. By appointing dedicated leaders to spearhead each of these paramount missions at the highest level, Binance is structuring itself to meet this dual challenge head-on.
For observers and participants in the cryptocurrency market, this development reinforces that Binance is committed to its position as an enduring pillar of the digital asset ecosystem. The focus now shifts from leadership transitions to execution under this new model. The key metrics to watch will not be speculative price movements but tangible outcomes: the pace of new licensing approvals under Teng’s outreach, the launch of next-generation products under He’s guidance, and ultimately, the sustained confidence of millions of users who rely on the platform daily. In consolidating its leadership bridge between its founding ethos and its necessary future, Binance has taken a definitive step toward long-term permanence in an industry where adaptability is paramount