Yi He: Social Value Creation, Not Zero-Sum Gain, Is the Foundation of Binance's Business Model

Binance co-founder Yi He said the company's growth model rejects zero-sum competition, arguing that as Binance's platform scales and its user base expands, the broader industry grows in parallel and Binance, as the sector leader, naturally gains greater commercial and public value. Speaking at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2026, Yi said the philosophy that runs through CZ's memoir Freedom of Money is to do difficult but correct things, with the expectation that persistence over five to ten years or more will yield significant results. She said when a company creates genuine social value and users are willing to pay for it, earning a fair return is sufficient, and that the path forward is a spiral ascent accompanied by controversy and difficulty.