Long article: He Yi responds to 34 questions after becoming co-CEO of Binance

Part 1: He Yi's Media Interview

Talking about Binance's Senior Management Division of Labor

PANews: This morning I saw that you were appointed as co-CEO. I'd like to know why this system was introduced? Also, what is the division of labor between you and Richard Teng?

He Yi: First of all, as everyone knows, Richard has a regulatory background, and he is quite familiar with compliance processes. In fact, he is often the best bridge when we communicate with regulatory authorities, and he also helps us improve compliance standards. As for myself, I consider myself an OG (veteran), although perhaps not quite "OG," but old enough.

Based on this, I can help the company better inherit and promote our culture in terms of user center. Secondly, as I may have mentioned in previous interviews, I have a big ambition: to make Binance a company with a long-term foundation. About a year ago, I also took over the HR department, which made me constantly think about and try to implement some new changes, how to make Binance not just rely on the ability of one person, but to build a long-term corporate system. That's why we have this co-CEO arrangement. In fact, the co-CEO model is quite common in crypto companies and traditional financial companies, such as JPMorgan and BYBIT, which also have co-CEOs. I think 1+1 is greater than 2.

On the white glove controversy

Wu Blockchain: Recently, there have been many intermediary agencies in the market promising to help with the listing of Binance Alpha. Have you heard of such situations?

Have you discovered any similar violations, and consequently dismissed any so-called "white gloves"? Also, has Binance tightened its listing rules as a result? He Yi: First of all, Binance has never had "white gloves." Although many people claim to be my close friends or relatives of CZ, there are actually quite a few imposters. But if you put yourself in Binance's shoes, would you need these "white gloves"? Actually, no. So why do these "white gloves" exist? Because Binance doesn't charge listing fees. All of Binance's listing conditions are: if you meet our standards and are willing to sell your tokens to our retail investors at a lower price, or if you are willing to airdrop them to our users, Binance essentially doesn't charge any fees. Therefore, these "white glove" phenomena have emerged precisely because our listing standards and thresholds are slightly higher, leading many to claim they can help you get listed. In reality, they simply help you through the listing process and submit relevant information. They might fill out a form for you, or act like a salesperson, saying the same thing to 100 projects, succeeding with only one or two, but it has absolutely nothing to do with what they actually did in the process. I think it's really a matter of probability; perhaps the project itself is of good quality. Secondly, if anyone discovers any behavior impersonating Binance claiming to guarantee listings, we welcome reports and encourage relevant law enforcement agencies to intervene. Binance was indeed an offshore exchange in its early years, and may have had fewer licenses, but in the last two years we have obtained more and more licenses and are no longer above the law. Therefore, I believe we must severely crack down on these acts of impersonating Binance's "front men." Finally, many people always talk about impersonating He Yi as a "front man," but everyone knows I am Binance's second-largest shareholder. Impersonating He Yi or Binance's "front man" is simply stealing money from my own pocket. Why would I need to steal my own money? Why would I need to damage Binance's reputation or interests to put money in my own pocket? If you understand Binance's shareholding structure even slightly, you'll know there's absolutely no need to do such a thing. How do you view gender and workplace competition? BlockBeats: As a woman and co-CEO, and with a vision to make the company a long-lasting enterprise, do you have any new positioning or ideas? He Yi: Talking about women is indeed not easy. First, I think that many times, whether in the FMCG industry or other industries, the key issue isn't which industry you're in, but whether you've set a ceiling for yourself, believing you can't do it. Because once you believe you can't do it, you really can't. Second, many women in the workplace often hope to use their gender advantages, such as "I'm a woman, I have good communication skills" or "I have a good image," so I get along well with everyone. This might give me more influence. However, I believe that if women are more friendly, others may be more willing to interact with them. The problem is that this approach can actually negatively impact a woman's professionalism. Because when others see you, they might not respect your expertise, but rather focus on your communication skills. My view is that, whether in Web2 or Web3, the most important thing for women is to improve their professional capabilities. If you're in marketing, become the best marketing expert in the industry; if you're in user growth, become the best in that area; if you're in PR, make your writing skills the best. If you can do these things, when others respect your expertise, gender discussions will naturally fade. From my personal perspective, I don't believe that as a female entrepreneur, others will go easy on you just because you're a woman. While I might say "ladies first" when I go out, in real business competition, it's a cutthroat world. Who will attack or criticize you less just because you're a woman? Sometimes they might be even harsher. So, I think your weaknesses can sometimes be your strengths, but sometimes treating your weaknesses as strengths can become your weaknesses. Ultimately, a person should find their true strengths.

The Potential of Prediction Markets

Dynamic Zone: Prediction markets have been very popular recently. I'd like to ask if Binance's future policies will consider factors based on prediction market votes and make policies or changes that meet the needs of the community?

He Yi: I have a huge lesson learned: "Never say never."

He Yi: I have a huge lesson learned: "Never say never."

You might recall me saying before that Binance definitely wouldn't offer futures contracts because I didn't understand them at the time. Later, I said Memecoin wouldn't work, only to find out I didn't understand it. So you see, when it comes to prediction markets, I think I might not understand them very well either. Therefore, I've learned to be smarter now; I don't easily say "never," but I also can't confidently tell you "definitely." In reality, unless a market's influence is insufficient, when its influence is large enough, there will inevitably be differing opinions, and it will inevitably be influenced by interests. The simplest example is that different people have different stances and interests, and ultimately, their data responses only present one slice, one perspective. I don't know how to answer your question, thank you. In general, I don't know enough about the prediction market field yet and haven't spent time studying it in depth.

Binance's Future Development: Reflections and Shortcomings

ForsightNews: You mentioned that Binance has over 300 million users, making it the company with the most users in the crypto space, unmatched by any other trading platform. You've also recently taken on a new role as co-CEO. From an internal perspective, what do you think are the strengths of Binance in 2025? At the same time, as a company that has grown to its current size, what shortcomings do you see? How can Binance become a long-lasting and successful enterprise? Because such companies are very rare.

He Yi: Okay, first of all, I feel like my brain has crashed (laughs). Let's start with the shortcomings.

He Yi: Okay, let me say this first, I feel like my brain has crashed (laughs). Let's start with the shortcomings.

I think Binance certainly has many shortcomings. I'm a rather picky and demanding boss, so many colleagues and I face a lot of work pressure (laughs). From my own perspective, Binance definitely has many areas for improvement. For example, in terms of product user experience, there's been feedback that our experience might not be smooth enough, or in terms of localization, for instance, some local exchanges have more user-friendly features because they understand the needs of local users better. Technically, we also need to improve stability. In addition, it's important to establish a more representative image within the industry. Despite the many controversies and attacks within the industry, the outside world still perceives the crypto industry as a "nest of snakes." Therefore, I think we should, in any case, showcase a more positive side and bring positive value to society. Overall, Binance still has many areas for improvement. In this process, I think one thing Binance has done slightly better is that we genuinely focus on user needs. Many people fall into the misconception that losing money means others are making money, that a market downturn is always due to others selling, and that a market upturn is always due to market manipulation. In reality, with our user base approaching 300 million, you'll find this market is highly competitive, with more and more traditional financial institutions joining. In the past, when traditional financial markets fell, the cryptocurrency market would rise; but now, when traditional financial markets rise, we rise, and when they fall, we fall. As the industry expands, the user structure changes. Low-quality users are increasingly being replaced by large whales and traditional giants. During market fluctuations, these giants tend to sell altcoins first, then Bitcoin. So you can understand that as the industry grows, everyone's behavior changes. In this process, what we've done relatively well is to try to balance and protect the interests of retail investors, because retail investors remain Binance's core base. This is why I've been on the front lines. I want to hear user feedback and see how to iterate our product, providing retail investors with more opportunities for inclusive finance and helping them achieve greater financial freedom. Of course, I can't say we're perfect, but for example, on October 11th this year, we didn't trade with users when the market was down. This means that market liquidity mainly relies on retail investors and market makers. If the market crashes, it's not surprising that retail investors lose money, and market makers will also suffer losses and must trade, even at a loss. When they don't trade, a liquidity vacuum appears in the market, causing prices to fall rapidly. If I participate in a trade, the existence of counterparties can fill this vacuum. Specifically, this is equivalent to the mechanism of a matching engine. If there are no orders in the middle of the price range, the market will absorb the lower price and then return to the upper price. Therefore, we are constantly thinking about how to build a fairer, more reasonable, and transparent market.

Strategic Focus for Future Development

ODaily Planet Daily: I'd like to ask what Binance's biggest challenge is right now? And which business segments will it focus on next?

He Yi: Actually, I talked about this on stage this afternoon. I think the biggest challenge right now is the issue of talent density. With the development of technology, not only in the cryptocurrency field, but also in the AI ​​field, it is developing rapidly. Traditional industries, whether it's the financial industry or internet companies, already have a very high talent density. In fact, we are competing with top talent in these fields.

Strategic Focus for Future Development

ODaily Planet Daily: I'd like to ask what Binance is currently facing as its biggest challenge? And which business segments will it focus on next?

He Yi: Actually, I talked about this on stage this afternoon. I think the biggest challenge right now is the issue of talent density. With the development of technology, not only in the cryptocurrency field, but also in the AI ​​field, it is developing rapidly. Traditional industries, whether it's the financial industry or internet companies, already have a very high talent density. In fact, we are competing with top talent in these fields.

Bottom Prediction of the Crypto Market

Sina Finance: Recently, Bitcoin, representing cryptocurrencies, has experienced a significant pullback. I remember you previously said that Bitcoin may not have bottomed out yet, and the underlying logic of the entire industry is changing. Could you explain what you specifically meant by these two points? Also, 2025 is a particularly hot year for the blockchain industry. The Chinese often say "when things reach their peak, they decline." Looking ahead to 2026, what are your predictions for this industry?

He Yi: First of all, this is my personal opinion and does not constitute investment advice.

Bitcoin is the most decentralized crypto asset, and the saying "what goes up must come down" is actually cyclical. In a longer cycle, you might see today's drop as just a minor fluctuation, just as some considered it minor fluctuations during previous cycles. However, my view is that assets like Bitcoin may not experience the same dramatic drops as in past cycles. This is because Bitcoin has transformed from a very niche asset into a more mainstream one. Although some countries may seize large amounts of Bitcoin and plan to sell them, Bitcoin has become a mainstream asset as more sovereign wealth funds, treasuries, and other institutions allocate funds to this decentralized core asset. This means its volatility and drops should be lower than in past cycles. Therefore, when I say the underlying logic has changed, I mean the theory of absolute cycles may no longer apply, but its fluctuation patterns may change. In other words, some basic strategies were very effective in the past, but these strategies may no longer be applicable now because the players in the market have changed, the pond has grown, and the fish in it have grown bigger. If you still use the old strategies to catch small fish and shrimp in a small pond, it may no longer work in this new cycle. ChainCatcher: Why did Binance implement the co-CEO system at this time? What fundamental changes will this new structure bring to Binance? Could you specifically name three of the most important things you personally led? He Yi: From the perspective of daily work, I think there aren't many major changes. But from my personal perspective, there are a few points that are most important. First, I believe Binance's success ultimately stems from its culture, the most crucial aspect of which is "user-centricity." This is paramount. Second, I hope to invest time in introducing more systemic improvements to enhance organizational effectiveness, rather than simply empowering individual aspects. In other words, how to make the organization more efficient as a whole, not just improve capabilities in a single area. Third, although I lack a technical or product background, I firmly believe that technological innovation is the fundamental driving force behind global progress. Therefore, based on this, I hope to incorporate more artificial intelligence into Binance's balanced structure. I believe that these technological transformations will ultimately propel the entire industry further. Techhub News: As co-CEO, how would you assess Hong Kong's priority in Binance's global strategy? He Yi: First, I want to say that we weren't the first to donate to the Hong Kong fire relief efforts. HashKey actually donated earlier, and Li Lin's group had already donated long before. After seeing this, we felt we should donate, but we chose to donate directly to the coins instead of through a foundation, because foundations usually charge a 20% service fee. We didn't want unnecessary fees deducted from our funds, so we found a Hong Kong foundation that didn't charge operating fees, which is why we decided to donate. I also hesitated a bit about the timing of the donation, worried that it might seem too high-profile, but ultimately decided to do the right thing, regardless of what others thought. We did donate fiat currency, and everyone can check the transfer records, but we hope it won't be made public, mainly to avoid information leaks between banks and causing trouble for relevant parties. Regarding Hong Kong's regulatory issues, I believe Hong Kong is Asia's financial center, and we highly respect its regulations. However, we have also seen some local exchanges' financial reports, which indicate that their operations are facing some difficulties. Overall, we are open to Hong Kong and willing to engage with local exchanges; of course, we hope to make significant strides in Hong Kong. However, Hong Kong's local exchanges face some restrictions in accessing international liquidity, making operations somewhat difficult for them. Therefore, our current approach is to proceed step by step, feeling our way forward. As for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's (SFC) concerns regarding the connectivity between compliant licensed exchanges and overseas exchanges, we remain open-minded. Communication with some local exchanges has not been smooth so far, so whether it can be successfully implemented in the future requires further observation and progress. Regarding the issue of industry liquidity, I think everyone needs to understand that the phenomenon of "draining" industry liquidity does not actually mean that the market lacks coins. Many users still hold their assets, but many hold stablecoins. In other words, the market is not devoid of liquidity, but rather lacks sufficiently attractive trading instruments. The funds in the market have not disappeared; they are simply not actively circulating. Overall, the market size continues to expand, although many investors choose conservative strategies during market volatility, such as investing in stablecoins or large-cap mainstream cryptocurrencies. We hope to promote liquidity recovery by increasing market transparency and providing more financial freedom. How to view memecoin? BlockBeats: Yesterday you mentioned wanting to create some more fun meme coins. What are your future plans in this area? He Yi: I'll look at this from several perspectives. First, as Binance, we don't really like people using my tweets to create memes; it puts a lot of pressure on me. Because if I just post a random meme, it becomes a meme, and if the meme goes up, everyone's happy; if it goes down, everyone's criticizing me (laughs). So sometimes I feel a lot of pressure myself. Actually, people don't care if I posted the meme, or if it was posted by He Yi, or by someone else; they just want a target that can carry their anxieties. Secondly, while everything can be meme-ed, from a long-term investment perspective, assets truly worthy of long-term investment will ultimately return to Buffett's value investing philosophy. I admit I'm a bit old-fashioned and often feel like I'm falling behind the times, like I'm learning to surf 5G. But I truly believe that whether emerging things like memes can last ultimately depends on whether they can carry long-term value. Short-term fluctuations are more driven by sentiment because all assets experience overbought and oversold conditions. When overbought, market sentiment is frenzied, and everyone is chasing the rise; when oversold, market sentiment is depressed, and everyone is selling off. This emotional fluctuation affects short-term price changes. From Binance's perspective, our logic is actually very simple: I hope every coin rises and never falls, but we also know this is difficult. Therefore, we try to get project teams to lower their issuance prices or require them to airdrop to users. However, sometimes project teams feel that Binance wants too many coins, leading people to believe that we charge exorbitant listing fees. In reality, our logic is simple: to meet user demand as much as possible. If there are too few coins on the market, users will buy those that seem to have no real value. Therefore, Binance ultimately needs to find a balance between trading categories, market demand, and risk control to ensure we remain stable in this dynamic game.

Responding to your life goals at 18

Forsight News: We know you mentioned your early experiences in a tweet, growing up in a rural area, where conditions were perhaps 50 years different from today. What were your life goals at 18? Wealth, family, or something else?

How to balance rules and the founder's personal characteristics?

He Yi: I think we're currently around the second stage. Let me explain why. Actually, from 0 to 1, Binance gradually developed from a completely non-existent state to a stage of initial scale and preliminary formation. I think this stage can be compared to those century-old companies.

He Yi: I think we are currently around the second stage. Let me explain why. Actually, from 0 to 1, Binance is from a completely non-existent state to a stage of initial scale and preliminary formation. I think this stage can be compared to those century-old companies.

Do you consider providing more support for quantitative institutions?

He Yi: First, we welcome everyone to offer suggestions and opinions on product requirements, but whether to develop a product still needs to be evaluated by each department, especially considering ROI. I would like to ask, how do you define success? If no one uses the product after it's made, then the product manager's decision may be problematic.

Second, we always pay attention to user feedback. A friend just mentioned that our employee service response speed is not timely enough. We welcome everyone to provide timely feedback, and we will optimize our services to ensure that we can meet the needs of all kinds of customers.

Finally, many of the top quantitative trading institutions in the market, especially some world-class trading players, are Binance's institutional users. We have already provided most of the functions these institutions need, but if there are special needs, we will also evaluate them individually to see if we can meet them. Looking ahead to the next ten years, He Yi: I cannot predict what will happen ten years from now; the future is very difficult to foresee. People ask me what Binance's plans are for five years from now? None. What are the plans for three years from now? None either. But we are very clear about what Binance will do this year and next, because the industry changes too quickly. For example, a concept that is popular this year may not be popular next year, and things that are popular next year may be outdated the year after. But one thing is most important: users. For the past 8 years, Binance has always emphasized "users are king". The most important thing is to truly serve our users well, making them feel secure, confident, and trustworthy when using our services. Regarding the technological path, we will adjust it according to actual needs. Whether it's traditional finance or our industry, they will eventually merge; this isn't a "life-or-death" process. In this process, we will flexibly adjust our stance, like a small startup struggling to survive. Although Binance is already leading the global Web3 finance landscape to some extent, we don't have overly fixed expectations for the future. Technological changes, especially the introduction of AI, are inevitable. How to use these technologies to change the inefficient solutions of traditional finance is also inevitable. In this process, we can only do what we can, but we also face many uncontrollable factors that are beyond our control. For example, could I work for the Federal Reserve? This is just an example, not something I'm actually going to do. What are your dreams after becoming CEO? He Yi: My dream is to enable more partners like me to shine on Binance, even surpassing me in expertise. I hope to cultivate more talent and find future partners. We're not looking for employees, but for future partners, even those who have worked their way up from the front lines. We want to provide them with space and a platform to grow in this environment. Regardless of their English fluency or educational background, I can do it myself, but I'm not sure if they can, but we will give them opportunities. What will be the focus of future listings? He Yi: Yesterday, someone asked me if Binance had listed too many projects this year. I think "too many" and "too few" are very subjective concepts. I've also reflected on this. Last year, I did a 6-hour live stream, and everyone criticized me for a long time. After much reflection, I realized that many projects might not be suitable for Binance's main site. Therefore, we launched Binance Alpha, a compromise solution. It's an intermediate zone between on-chain wallets and Binance's main site, allowing more projects to experience this platform first. We also suggest they send airdrop benefits to users through us. This model has been effective for the past few months, but it may no longer be applicable over time, and we are looking for better solutions. People often think that the "wealth code" for industry development or making money is fixed, but in fact, as the industry changes, our strategies are constantly being adjusted. The same goes for investment strategies; they need to be flexible. In an article I wrote at the beginning of the year, I mentioned the problem of "marking the boat to find the sword"—you can't apply the money-making methods of the previous cycle to the current cycle; it often leads to failure. Therefore, as we grow together, we are constantly improving, and we hope you will give us more suggestions. Thank you!

How do you view altcoins?

He Yi: The reason customer service said "altcoins have no value" was because many people were calling. We now use AI, and customer service handles questions through translation. He should have answered about the issue of altcoins not being able to be staked in contracts, but perhaps because many customer service representatives are new, they gave random answers. At that time, I was very frustrated and couldn't explain clearly, so I could only tell the truth, but people might not believe me.

He Yi: The reason customer service said "altcoins have no value" was because many people were calling. We now use AI, and customer service handles questions through translation. He should have answered about the issue of altcoins not being able to be staked in contracts, but perhaps because many customer service representatives are new, they gave random answers. I was very frustrated at that time and couldn't explain clearly, so I could only tell the truth, but people might not believe me.

Advice for Binance Square Authors

He Yi: I think it's like this. Every time I share with everyone, I hope they feel that I'm quite sincere, because I believe that's how I am as a person. If I take up so many people's time, even if each person listens for an hour, it adds up to hundreds of hours. So I try my best to share valuable content in every communication. Even if you think that 99 of my sentences are nonsense after listening, if even one sentence is useful to you, then everyone will think that He Yi is a person you can get along with. It's the same with creating content. In today's environment where everyone on the internet is showing off their skills, talking about how to grab attention and create hooks, I believe that truly valuable content will still stand the test of time. My advice is to output more practical information and provide things that are useful to others.

Have you considered turning Binance Square into a live streaming platform?

He Yi: This is indeed a problem. Because our content module department has relatively few people, and our R&D and operations teams are also small, the development progress is indeed relatively slow. But our goal is clear—we are not trying to compete with Douyin, nor are we trying to compete with X. Our goal is to create a vertical community, providing sufficiently valuable content, allowing users to settle down here, make friends, and gain a deeper understanding of the industry, building an independent community. We value everyone's feedback very much and will make improvements based on these opinions. For example, regarding product suggestions, I will have our team strengthen their development work.

Are you considering turning Binance Square into a live streaming platform?

He Yi: This is indeed a problem. Because our content module department has relatively few people, and our R&D and operations teams are also small, our development progress is indeed relatively slow. But our goal is clear—we are not trying to compete with Douyin, nor with X.

Views on Project Trends and Future Direction

He Yi: Actually, we don't aim to lead trends, but rather follow them. Innovation often comes from the less obvious aspects, not from what's dominant from the start. For example, people think that after Binance listed MEME, everyone started speculating on MEME, but that's not actually the case. We've been observing small, new, and interesting projects in the industry, or discovering areas that can generate wealth.

Parenting Philosophy and Children's Future Career Choices

He Yi: I have an educational background, having studied education. I think there's an old saying about education: "Let flowers be flowers, let trees be trees," meaning to respect children's nature and let them be themselves. First, I don't encourage forcing children. For example, I have a friend whose child is only 6 years old and already at a piano performance level and ballet competition level, but we don't do that in our family. I think children's curiosity is very important. Rather than forcing children to do certain things, it's better to guide them to do things they are interested in.