In the past two days, a letter of appeal written to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington has been particularly popular in the circle.

On April 30, Binance founder CZ will receive the final verdict in the court. According to the US sentencing guidelines, he faces a recommended sentence of 12 to 18 months, but there are also reports that he may face a sentence of 36 months in prison. On Tuesday, CZ submitted a letter to Judge Jones, who is in charge of the case, apologizing for his actions and believing that he should take full responsibility. In addition to CZ's letter, there are other letters of appeal from important figures such as family, friends, politicians, employees, etc., a total of 161 letters, of which He Yi's handwritten is the most eye-catching.

The whole letter is 3 pages long, and the words are full of deep feelings for CZ and Binance. He Yi recalled the 10 years of ups and downs that she and CZ had experienced together in the industry, especially the 6 years of building Binance together. Some of the unknown little things are the epitome of CZ and Binance. Many industry veterans said on social media that they were deeply touched after reading it, and lamented that after so many years, "many things have changed, but Sister Yi is still your Sister Yi".

I remember one night in June last year, a message was sent in the editorial WeChat group: "Sister Yi is very angry."

On the same day, Bloomberg published an exclusive interview with He Yi. This was the first time that a mainstream Western financial media reported on the woman behind the 10 billion unicorn in a full article. Chinese media compiled and forwarded it. The title of the interview article is "The most powerful woman in the crypto space speaks out at the moment of Binance crisis". After reading carefully, people found that Bloomberg did not seem to recognize the "superpowers" that this "Binance woman" possessed and demonstrated in the cryptocurrency circle.

In the article, He Yi became a female executive who "has been avoiding the eyes of authority for six years" and is now "trapped in the crypto empire", and her influence on the crypto world is more derived from her dependence on CZ. Bloomberg even used the relationship between FTX founder SBF and its executive Caroline to hint at the legendary founder couple of the cryptocurrency circle, and did not comment on He Yi's statement that "she brought CZ into the circle" and "joined Binance by her ability".

Earlier this month, the SEC sued Binance and Coinbase in succession, classifying several mainstream currencies as securities, and the crypto market fell into turmoil again. According to Nansen data, 24 hours after the news of the SEC's lawsuit came out, a total of more than $3 billion worth of crypto assets were withdrawn from Binance, with a net outflow of about $1.43 billion. Subsequently, Binance.US was pursued again, and the SEC applied for asset freezing. It announced the delisting of multiple trading pairs within one day, and then the news of the company's senior executives leaving was exposed one after another. Faced with the FUD brought by the regulatory wave, He Yi immediately stood up and responded in the community.

Western media reported this bloody smell of regulation vividly, and He Yi, who continued to speak out, became the first bird to come out of the gun. In the interview article, Bloomberg made a fuss about Binance Labs and the coin listing department led by He Yi, criticizing Binance for its chaotic management and lack of transparency compared to traditional finance. In Bloomberg's eyes, He Yi is Binance's "single point of failure" and the "shadow dictator" of the crypto market.

This is not the first time she has frequently appeared in the community this year. In May, Binance was severely criticized by the community for the poor quality and performance of the projects launched on Launchpad. Words such as "girlfriend coin" and "no cognition" can be found in almost every tweet related to Binance. During this period, it was still He Yi who responded to every tweet from early morning to one or two o'clock in the morning, and some even directly "battled online".

The last time He Yi publicly confronted like this was 4 years ago. Newcomers who just entered the circle this year may think that He Yi has a bad temper when they see her on Twitter, but the sister 4 years ago was not used to your faults in the WeChat group at all, whether it was reasoning or fighting, she would not frown. In 2019, in order to promote Binance's newly launched contract products, He Yi fought with "friendly companies" such as Huobi and OK in WeChat groups. This scene is one of the few memories of many "old leeks in the cryptocurrency circle" in the extremely dull market that year.

4 years ago, He Yi was more influential than CZ in the cryptocurrency circle. But the Western media didn't know this. CZ was the only "rock star" in their eyes. About Binance, 90% of the reports only mentioned CZ. He Yi didn't have such treatment. She didn't speak English well, so she began to retreat behind the scenes after Binance switched to the international market. He Yi, who was no longer in the spotlight, gradually faded out of the media's sight, and was not known to newcomers. But she was always the first to stand up when Binance encountered FUD and crisis, and used straightforward and courageous replies to remind everyone: In the cryptocurrency circle, you are still the number one sister.

The number one sister in the cryptocurrency circle

He Yi, formerly known as He Ying, was born in 1986 in a remote rural village in Sichuan Province. Because both of her parents were teachers, He Yi had already started first grade in primary school when other children of the same age were still in kindergarten. At that time, He Yi was five years old and looked out of place on campus. She spent more time at home reading all kinds of books owned by her parents. But even though she couldn't play with her classmates, He Yi always got first place in the exams.

He Yi at 11

At the age of 16, He Yi worked as a beverage promoter and earned 1,000 yuan a month. At the age of 18, she worked as a store manager for a home furnishings store for two months, managing accounts and people. In 2006, 20-year-old He Yi studied for a master's degree in psychological counseling in Beijing. After passing the qualification certificate, she found that even the top psychological experts in China did not have a good living condition. "The cultural attributes of China determine the limitations of psychotherapy. It is difficult to develop to the level of universal recognition like abroad in a short period of time." He Yi knows very well that where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there is psychology. After working as an assistant psychological counselor for a while, He Yi dropped out and went to Lijiang alone.

It happened that the school where her friend was was recruiting class teachers. There were no requirements, just the ability to endure hardships, so He Yi volunteered to go for an interview. After talking with the department head and the principal, He Yi became a university class teacher. She later recalled: "My sense of responsibility and my ability to manage and communicate with young people improved by leaps and bounds during that time." At that time, He Yi managed art students. Most of them were unruly, but they were convinced by He Yi. Once a student skipped class, He Yi kicked open the door of the boys' dormitory and dragged the students who were not in class to the classroom.

"Spring Festival red envelopes are so good!"

In 2012, He Yi's life ushered in the first turning point. A friend who was a director suggested that she try to be a host. In the last round of interviews, the sponsors and the management of the satellite TV program group asked the contestants to talk about their advantages. He Yi's original words were, "I have a background in psychology, so I have strong empathy and can communicate well with different people. I have learned makeup, so you can save the money of a makeup artist. I don't ask for anything in return, you can give me any amount of money."

In this way, she became the location host of "Beautiful Destinations" and "Go as Far as You Can" on Travel Satellite TV, and later went to Beijing Satellite TV to be the host of "Beijing New Discovery". But the work of a TV station is not all about spotlights and delicious food and beautiful scenery. Over the past year, she has been traveling all over the country with the program, sometimes wading in nearly knee-deep mud and water, or camping in heavy rain nights. Later, He Yi recalled his experience as a travel host on a show: "When I was circumambulating the mountains in Qinghai, there was no water, no electricity, and no signal. When it was getting dark, I got lost from the main group. In the distance, I could hear wolves howling, and nearby you could hear the creaking sound of snow melting on the snowy mountains."

In fact, He Yi's courage and tenacity were already evident at this time. Of course, what made He Yi successful was not only her tenacity in desperate situations, but also her pursuits that she always insisted on. At that time, many popular hosts liked to play with directors or friends in the circle, but He Yi was not like that. She always mixed with people in the entrepreneurial circle and listened to them talk about investment, projects, and entrepreneurship every day. "What I really want to do is to start a business and create something different," she said in a later interview.

In November 2013, Bitcoin fell rapidly after just reaching $1,100. OKCoin, which had just started a business, was preparing to organize a Bitcoin red envelope event during the Spring Festival to activate the market. At that time, OKCoin's investor Mai Gang found He Yi and asked her if she could help send a red envelope and promote it for free in the circle of friends. He Yi immediately searched for Bitcoin on the Internet. After some understanding, He Yi immediately sent a red envelope to OKCoin in WeChat Moments, leaving a message "Spring Festival red envelopes, Smecta!"

During the Spring Festival, in order to thank those who helped OKCoin to send red envelopes, Mai Gang called everyone together and organized a gathering of Chinese young angels. At this gathering, He Yi met Xu Mingxing, the founder of OKCoin, for the first time. The two talked about blockchain and Bitcoin at the gathering, and then Mai Gang suddenly said: "Mingxing, isn't your company looking for someone to do marketing? Isn't this just right?" Xu Mingxing was in high spirits and invited He Yi to come to the company when he was free, and He Yi agreed.

The second week after the meeting, He Yi went to Xu Mingxing's company. They had a brief chat downstairs. After Xu Mingxing introduced the company and personal background to He Yi, he offered him an offer of 400,000 yuan a year. He Yi, who was full of curiosity about this new world, accepted it on the spot. "I had a very happy chat with Lao Xu. He offered me an offer without even discussing the price. I reported after the Spring Festival."

So in March 2014, He Yi became the vice president of OKCoin, responsible for brand building and marketing. He Yi, who joined OKCoin, started with public relations, then planned activities, and then took over customer service. The whole process was very easy to get started.

In early 2014, Chongge, the founder of Yibit, visited OKCoin. Later, he recalled the office environment of OKCoin at that time: "OK Group was in a simple office building. The office was a small mezzanine. There was a large plastic sign with OKEX on the door. At that time, Xu Mingxing was upstairs and He Yi was downstairs. When she worked overtime, she liked to wear black clothes, like a big sister. They worked day and night."

According to many employees, during her tenure at OKCoin, He Yi led the team to reverse public relations crises many times. He Yi was nicknamed "The Queen of the Cryptocurrency Circle". In her own words, "I asked myself what kind of person I want to be. I hope to be someone who influences the development of the world, or at least participate in the progress of society." Perhaps, what attracted He Yi was not the cryptocurrency industry, but the sense of mission she has always given herself.

What really made most people know the OKCoin brand was the job search program "You Are the One" on Tianjin TV that He Yi participated in later. He Yi stepped in front of the camera again as a member of the "BOSS Team". Her sharp words, as well as her witty and friendly characteristics, made many people know her and OKCoin behind her.

In April 2015, under the leadership of He Yi, OKCoin played an advertisement on the main screen of Times Square in New York, USA, "Bitcoin is here, OKCoin is here, Everything will be OK!". The news was reported by People's Daily, and OKCoin's trading volume soared, successfully occupying 60% of the domestic Bitcoin trading volume.

Before this, OKCoin had already made enough exposure in China. In 2014, He Yi accepted interviews from magazines such as "Jiaren", "Caijing Tianxia Weekly" and "Blog Tianxia" on behalf of OKCoin. At the end of the year, OKCoin became the first cryptocurrency trading platform to appear on the high-end magazine "Harper's Bazaar". The editor of the journal used "OKCoin Tiantuan" to describe this unstoppable new force and gave it several full pages. At that time, OKCoin was called China's "most fashionable Internet financial company" by the media.

It is worth noting that in the OKCoin "group photo" published by "Harper's Bazaar", there is one more person next to Xu Mingxing. This is also another great achievement of He Yi during his time at OKCoin, digging CZ to OKCoin.

In 2014, Zhao Changpeng was just a Canadian technical returnee, working as a technical director at the cryptocurrency market website Blockchain.info. Once, He Yi held an event for OKCoin in Hangzhou, and CZ was a guest. After listening to CZ's sharing, He Yi admired his talent very much, so he asked him for WeChat after the meeting. Later, He Yi wanted to advertise OKCoin on Blockchain.info, so he found CZ and asked for some discounts, but CZ told He Yi, "Our advertising is not discounted." He Yi, who was rejected, was more optimistic about CZ. He Yi believed that he did not let personal relationships affect his decision-making and was very professional. He then introduced CZ to Xu Mingxing and brought him into OKCoin.

CZ, who had just joined the company, did a very good job. In addition to being responsible for the infrastructure, custody and security of on-chain transactions, all product development was managed by CZ. Because of his good English, CZ was also responsible for the promotion of overseas markets. In this way, the "iron triangle of the currency circle" that resounded throughout the 14-year crypto industry was formed.

Of course, it seems now that this triangle is not so "iron". In the entrepreneurial circle, one mountain can never accommodate two tigers. CZ and Xu Mingxing both have technical backgrounds, and the two often have disagreements due to differences in decision-making logic and cultural background. At the end of 2014, CZ and his former employer Blockchain.info signed an agreement that OKCoin would be responsible for the operation of the Bitcoin.com domain name for 5 years, and the advertising revenue of the website during this period would belong to OKCoin. However, due to poor operating results, OKCoin hoped to terminate the cooperation in advance. However, Roger Ver, the owner of Bitcoin.com, known as "Bitcoin Jesus", believed that OKCoin should pay compensation on a monthly basis, and the two sides broke out into an economic dispute that lasted for several months.

To Xu Mingxing's surprise, CZ strongly stood on Roger Ver's side in this dispute, pointing out that OKCoin violated professional ethics and forged his signature for bank transfers. Subsequently, OKCoin immediately issued a statement, saying that CZ not only forged the contract, but also fabricated lies to attack OKCoin. In the end, the war of words ended with OKCoin firing CZ. As the person who introduced CZ to join the company, He Yi was also caught in the middle of this debate and was in a dilemma. In the second half of 2015, He Yi bid farewell to OKCoin in a low-key manner.

"Starting Again Before the Age of 30"

After leaving OKCoin, in addition to some Bitcoins held, He Yi only had 100,000 yuan in cash. During this period, many colleagues offered her an olive branch and told her "You can ask for any salary you want", but He Yi, who had a non-compete agreement, decisively refused them all. In fact, even after OKCoin achieved great success, many people still had the impression that He Yi was a "vase in the cryptocurrency circle". People invited He Yi to join their companies more because they were attracted by the name "He Yi".

But Zhang Ling, who was then the investment manager of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, saw He Yi build the OKCoin brand in less than a year. She thought He Yi had great potential, so she recommended her to Han Kun, the founder of Yixia Technology. At the end of 2015, Yixia Technology completed its Series D financing and received $200 million, but the company still did not have a marketing department. Han Kun invited He Yi to join Yixia Technology to coordinate the entire market business. Soon after, He Yi became the vice president of Yixia Technology, with an annual salary of one million and options.

"You only want to gain without paying, this is impossible. During the OKCoin period, I have been using the name He Yi to speak out and use the credit of this name to guarantee the company. After leaving, I hope to stand behind the scenes and use professionalism to achieve all strategic goals." After leaving OKCoin, He Yi also began to try behind-the-scenes work.

Many people may not know Yixia Technology, but the popular Yizhibo, Xiaokaxiu and Miaopai at the time were all their products, and the success of each of these products has a direct relationship with He Yi. In 2016, Korean actor Song Zhongji became popular in China with "Descendants of the Sun". His influence and the huge fan base behind him are the big cakes that every live broadcast platform covets. Yizhibo, led by He Yi, signed Song Zhongji among many cooperation invitations. A few months later, the number of video playbacks on Song Zhongji's official account on Yizhibo exceeded 160 million, and the highest number of people online at the same time in a single live broadcast exceeded 3.5 million. Yizhibo became a hit.

Whether in the cryptocurrency circle or in Internet technology companies, the logic of the market and the logic of understanding users are interlinked, and He Yi has made perfect use of the invariant points in the industry changes. "Whether it is live broadcast, short video, or video, in fact, it is no longer fighting alone, but competing on the same starting line, which is called: seizing the user's time." As the company's vice president, He Yi personally led the team to fight in the live broadcast market, and single-handedly promoted the rise of Yizhibo, Miaopai, and Xiaokaxiu. Later, Yizhibo once became the preferred platform for cryptocurrency people to live broadcast.

One night in August 2017, "Second Master Bao" Guo Hongcai was doing a live broadcast on the Yizhibo platform, and suddenly shouted "Welcome to the beautiful He Yi to return to the cryptocurrency circle!" The people who were watching the live broadcast were shocked, and hurriedly opened the news, only to see the news that He Yi had resigned from Yixia Technology.

In 2017, when Yixia Technology was developing rapidly, He Yi decided to bid farewell to the company and her "boss" Han Kun. On August 8, she officially announced her farewell to Yixia Technology with a "resignation letter" entitled "Starting again at the age of 30! ". He Yi wrote in the article: "I like to lead a group of people to conquer cities and ponds, I like the moment of celebrating victory with a toast, and I like to watch my subordinates grow up and become independent. These are things that make me happy." So, the first sister of the currency circle who had "disappeared" for two years decided to return in a high-profile manner, "everything is reset to zero and started from scratch", and once again joined hands with CZ to create Binance as CMO.

Many newcomers to the circle may not know the huge impact that the news of "the return of the No. 1 sister" had on the currency circle at that time, but in a report by Golden Finance, we can get a glimpse of it. The article begins like this:

"A few days ago, I just heard that Binance (full name Binance Blockchain Asset Trading Platform) has a mysterious guest who is about to take up an important position. He is known as "an important entrepreneur in the technology circle and the behind-the-scenes promoter of many well-known Internet products"... I was really shocked when I saw the introduction of Binance's guessing event at that time, and my mood was also lifted."

In July 2017, Binance launched its own platform token BNB, with an issue price of 1 yuan. But soon after the launch, BNB fell below the issue price, and one BNB was only worth 0.5 cents. Binance was badly criticized at the time. He Yi later recalled that it was the most stressful period for CZ, and he lost 10 kilograms in three weeks. As soon as the news of He Yi joining Binance was announced, the price of BNB rose immediately, and the trading volume of BNB and the newly launched BTM token on the platform immediately surged, and the trading volume ranking squeezed into the 10th in the world. Half a month after He Yi joined the company, BNB jumped from $0.149 to $2.57, an increase of more than 20 times.

In response to questions from the media, He Yi said that "joining Binance was a very cautious decision" and believed that he would build Binance into a "truly world-class trading platform." But in fact, from CZ asking He Yi to dinner and showing her the white paper to He Yi joining Binance and reversing the decline of BNB, the whole process took less than a month. Later, she also said in an interview that she did "run into the market and bring her own dry food."

This "dry food" is not only her work experience, but also the assets accumulated by He Yi over the years. After He Yi invested money in the company, she had less than 1 million yuan left, so she simply bought all the Binance coins. "My logic is that if you do something and you don't believe in it yourself, why do you let other investors buy it?" He Yi has hardly sold this part of BNB until now.

He Yi brought her previous operating experience in Yizhibo to Binance. She gave away coins and luxury cars during the live broadcast. It seemed simple and crude, but it actually gathered a lot of traffic for Binance. On August 22, He Yi connected with Sun Yuchen for a live broadcast and talked about the Tron project. During the live broadcast, He Yi initiated a TRON rush sale, and in just 53 seconds, 500 million TRONs were sold. TRON was immediately recognized as the "No. 1 ICO Project" in the second half of 2017.

On the 25th, He Yi successfully found a gold medal endorsement for Binance and signed an investment letter of intent with Sequoia China on behalf of Binance. The letter of intent stipulates that Sequoia China will invest about RMB 60 million in Series A financing in Binance, accounting for 10.7% of the shares. At the same time, Sequoia China agrees to provide a bridge loan worth about RMB 30 million to Binance's Japanese branch. Binance's valuation suddenly reached RMB 500 million.

But Binance, which was about to reach its peak, encountered the "cryptocurrency circle disaster day" a week later. On September 4, 2017, the country struck a heavy blow to the chaos in the cryptocurrency industry, and seven government ministries announced that all token issuance and financing activities, including ICO, would be stopped. As soon as the news came out, Bitcoin plunged, and everyone thought that cryptocurrency was going to die. At this time, it was less than a month since He Yi joined Binance.

Of course, for Binance, September 4th is a rare opportunity to "overtake". Binance has always only done currency-to-currency transactions, and the company's servers are also registered overseas. CZ himself is a foreigner, so it is natural to take the international route. "Since China cannot do it at present, we have decisively withdrawn from the Chinese market and focused on international business."

What impressed many investors at the time was Binance's "market price withdrawal" of Chinese investors. According to industry regulations, if the issue price is one yuan, then only one yuan needs to be returned during the withdrawal, and the principal will be returned to the investor. But Binance decided to withdraw according to the market price of BNB. At that time, BNB had gone through a round of highs, and the price after September 4th was still around 6 yuan. There were also many projects involving ETH. Binance also withdrew the currency according to the market price of ETH, subsidizing a large sum of money. For Binance, although this wave was a loss, it won the trust of the industry.

After that, He Yi promoted Binance on social media under pressure, recommending "Teacher Tony's" "wall-climbing tutorial" to users. On the other hand, he directed Binance to open its first card in Japan to fill the vacancy of domestic trading platforms. At one time, domestic users such as OKCoin and Huobi flowed to Binance in large numbers, and Binance began to advance rapidly again.

On December 15, 2017, four months after He Yi joined Binance, Binance announced its operating data: the top three in global trading volume, 24-hour trading volume exceeded 2.1 billion US dollars, and BNB market value increased by 100% month-on-month. On December 18, Binance's daily trading volume exceeded 3 billion US dollars, becoming the world's first crypto trading platform. On the 19th, the number of Binance users exceeded 2 million, and then jumped to 5 million in less than a month.

On January 10, 2018, Binance’s trading volume exceeded 10 billion US dollars. In February, CZ appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine. It took He Yi 6 months to realize the boast she made when she joined Binance.

Binance did not have smooth sailing after He Yi joined. Late at night on March 7, 2018, Binance was hacked, and many users found that the tokens held in their accounts were traded for Bitcoin at the market price, causing the prices of most currencies to fall. After triggering a panic sell-off, the hackers bought all the Bitcoins held in the stolen accounts into a token called VIA, causing the price of VIA to surge by more than 110 times in a short period of time, which in turn caused the price of Bitcoin to fall by more than 10% within an hour.

After the incident, Binance was accused of "stealing from the inside and blaming hackers." He Yi stood up again, speaking to the media to clarify while answering everyone's questions one by one in the communication group. "He Yi protects Binance like a calf. At least in Binance's external role-playing, she does a good job," this is the evaluation of He Yi by a media person in the industry. In April, the Hong Kong High Court rejected Sequoia China's request for an injunction against Binance, and the investment dispute between Binance and Sequoia China was again in the media. He Yi once again came out to ease the relationship, saying that this was "a conflict between emerging industries and past financing models, and a conflict between Chinese culture and Western culture."

Related reading: "Changpeng Zhao sues Sequoia Capital subsidiary and demands compensation"

Four years ago, He Yi always made golden sentences in media interviews. Regarding the outside world's doubts that Binance's donation of all listing fees is "left hand to right hand", He Yi said that "it is Binance's freedom to donate the listing fees wherever it wants." Regarding the definition of Binance ICO as illegal, she said, "CZ did not specifically consider China, which is a manifestation of our lack of oriental wisdom." Of course, there is also a response to the red shirt lawsuit. In 2018, Benpao Finance counted the Baidu search volume, media information volume, number of fans and other data of the founders of crypto exchanges at that time. He Yi and Binance ranked first, with exposure far exceeding other competitors. This is the influence of Yijie in the currency circle.

After the "September 4th Incident", under the regulatory pressure of various countries and the high discrimination of Western media, many domestic exchanges began to downplay their "Chinese elements" in order to keep their business going. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find videos of CZ speaking Chinese, and Xu Mingxing is determined to "no longer speak Mandarin." But He Yi's English is not good. In an exclusive interview with Bloomberg, she also revealed that her English level is an important reason why she did not become the image spokesperson for Binance.

With Binance's overseas expansion, He Yi gradually retreated behind the scenes, and CZ stepped to the front. Now, even outsiders know that CZ is the "richest man in the cryptocurrency circle", but if you haven't been in the circle for a year or two, you won't know how glorious Yijie was back then.

However, today He Yi is still running around for Binance. Her passport is stamped by many countries, and there are fewer and fewer blank visa pages. He Yi describes her work as "home all over the world". "When you are away from Chongqing noodles, crayfish and Jiugongge hot pot, you will still miss it, especially your stomach, which will have a strong sense of homesickness." Is He Yi, who has retreated behind the scenes, still valuable? He Yi herself has answered this question. In the interview, she revealed that people have always tried to poach her in the past, but most people only did so because of the name He Yi, not the value of He Yi. "My work in the past two years has basically been behind the scenes, and I am the one who stands behind and makes arrangements. Lao Zhao understands the value of He Yi as a partner."

Binance Partner

In May 2018, He Yi was asked in a media interview whether Binance considered issuing financial derivatives. At this time, the crypto market had just entered a bear market, and people did not have a clear understanding of the industry cycle, and the market sentiment was not too bad. Regarding the opening of contract products, He Yi's answer was "If it is just to make money, it does not mean much to Binance."

He Yi made it clear that Binance has always been very cautious about financial products. She also half-jokingly joked: "Futures leverage provides a short-selling mechanism. CZ and I are both very firm coin holders. We only have coins but no money. So in providing a short-selling mechanism, there is a little selfishness. We don't want the short-selling mechanism in this industry to be too easy."

But in 2019, Binance was really anxious.

In May, Binance, which has always been restrained in business, launched contract, OTC and other product businesses at a very fast speed. This year, Binance not only launched Binance.US, replacing Binance's main site in the United States to provide services to users, but also announced that it would re-emphasize the Chinese market and increase staffing in China.

Behind Binance's series of actions is the stock game stage in which the crypto market is deeply trapped. He Yi himself summarized two market trends. One is that trading is cold and the frequency of user transactions is reduced. The other is that the mainstream currency is more active and the altcoin is lower. For trading platforms, the most feared thing in the bear market of the currency circle is not the decline, but the sideways trend with no end in sight. Retail investors are trapped and cannot move. The project parties either make a fortune and leave, or lack money to do "market value management". The "cold winter" freezes a large area and the liquidity of the entire industry dries up. Without the money-making effect, exchanges have become even less popular.

The reason for entering the contract is that it can amplify volatility and increase the frequency of transactions for individual users. With OK and Huobi launching contract businesses one after another, the "homogeneous competition" among the three major exchanges has been thoroughly rolled out.

The close combat in business soon gave rise to a "war of words" between friendly companies. In October, Xu Mingxing suddenly tore up with his former comrade-in-arms He Yi, and posted on Weibo that He Yi and CZ were in love within the company and lacked professional ethics and partnership spirit. At that time, CZ was already a married person, and He Yi quickly denied his relationship with CZ and fought back.

When asked how he viewed the escalation of friction with his peers, He Yi's answer was as tough as ever. She said that it was competitors who "recruited Binance back". "Competitors always blackened Binance online and sent us so many PR articles. Whenever Binance had problems, they jumped out to mock us. I thought, since they have such high expectations for us, let's go back to China to do the market. If we don't come back to fight this battle, we can't set the record straight, which would make me look like I have no temper."

2019! 2019!

Looking back now, 2019 may be a turning point in Binance's six-year history. In this year, Binance broke out of the war of attrition among many exchanges and began to gradually distance itself from its peers.

Many people believe that Binance's breakthrough in 2019 was based on the innovative IEO model. In January, with the advantage of overseas, Binance announced the restart of Launchpad and took the lead in starting the IEO journey. The first project was Justin Sun's Bittorrent (BTT), which was sold out in less than 13 minutes after it went online. Now, there may be nothing worth mentioning about the Bittorrent project, but at that time when there was no volatility and hope, the impact of a project that went online and increased 20 times on the market was immeasurable.

Facts have also proved that Binance has become the most successful IEO player, not only earning enough attention, but also taking away users from other platforms. Seeing Binance's breakthrough, Huobi and OK immediately joined the "IEO Club". In March, Huobi launched its first project TOP, and the three rounds of rush purchases took only 19 seconds in total, and the opening price was more than 20 times. Driven by the leading exchanges, domestic trading platforms of all sizes have entered the IEO trading market. CZ confidently replied: "Other exchanges are welcome to copy."

But in fact, it was not just the new model of IEO that led Binance to finally break through, because by May and even at the end of the year, the "three major exchanges" were still fighting for the contract market. And CZ's confidence did not come only from the victory of IEO. In 2019, Binance's work efficiency and progress in all aspects can be described as "terrifying."

After setting off the IEO wave in January, Binance then launched Binance Smart Chain (now BNB Chain) in February. In May, the first DeFi project on the chain, CRED, was launched, and Binance started leverage and contract trading, officially entering the derivatives market. In June, Binance Labs announced the incubation of 13 new projects. In July, Binance.us was established. In September, Binance launched BUSD, wealth management products and staking platforms in succession. In December, it acquired JEX and launched Binance Cloud, as well as the landmark event - investing in FTX.

This is just a display of some of Binance's workload and products in 2019. In the extremely cold moment of the market, Binance's multiple business lines went forward, trying every means to increase trading volume and bring funds back. And behind almost every business line of Binance, there is a figure of He Yi. This year, Binance's business progress has gradually been reflected in the company's profits.

Someone calculated the value of the fiat currency destroyed by BNB in the third quarter. In the third quarter of 2019, even though the transactions in the crypto market were declining, Binance's profits were still increasing, and even increased by about 10 million US dollars compared with the second quarter. He Yi gave three reasons for this. First, Binance had a coin theft incident last quarter, and because of the loss, the profit declined. Second, some projects invested by Binance in the early stage unlocked tokens in the third quarter and obtained a certain return on investment. Third, a lot of structural optimization was done in terms of cost.

He Yi once revealed that the fees Binance paid to third-party service companies every year were astonishingly large. "For example, in terms of cloud services, the money we paid to Amazon every year may really be second only to those world's top companies." In 2019, the team led by He Yi made a lot of iterations on the solutions provided by suppliers, reducing costs by tens of millions of US dollars every month.

These achievements are not groundless. Looking back, He Yi and Binance had already begun to pave the way for their breakthrough in 2018.

In an interview in October 2018, He Yi said: "The most powerful opponent is actually ourselves, and Binance needs to defeat itself to evolve." At that time, the foundation and ecology of the blockchain industry were not yet mature, but Binance decided to try in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the industry, as well as in all directions.

Binance Labs was established upstream. At first, it only invested in some industries, but later He Yi found that it was necessary to establish a mother fund to introduce the old money of traditional finance into the industry. Binance Smart Chain was established in the midstream, providing incubation space for projects in a more crypto-native way. In an interview in 2018, Ella, then head of Binance Lab, revealed the launch plan of BSC. Of course, there are also extensions of Binance Info, charity, etc. in the downstream of the industry.

In 2018, Binance also did one thing, which was to acquire Trust Wallet.

This was Binance's first public acquisition. He Yi recalled that when he found Trust Wallet, the team was already planning to issue coins, so the initial impression was not very good. But after using and experiencing the product, He Yi quickly decided to talk to the other party again. In August, Binance announced the acquisition of Trust Wallet, and soon after, He Yi's assistant Eowync took over the position of CEO of the team. To this day, Trust Wallet's market share on mobile terminals has exceeded MetaMask, and the team still has not issued coins.

In fact, Binance has many sub-businesses, but almost none of them issue coins. He Yi believes that these products have a bright future. She herself also said that, overall, it is most important to focus on value creation. "The image of the currency circle is not a greedy behemoth. I hope that one day, this industry will really grow, be recognized by the public and society, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results."

This sounds a lot like those high-sounding big words, but He Yi has indeed achieved all the boasts in the past, and this sentence is no exception. Binance Labs under He Yi's leadership has indeed made a lot of "faith investments."

Binance Chief Business Officer Yibo Ling once said: "We buy and hold, which has been the strategy for the past few years. With a few exceptions, we have not exited." The most powerful proof is Binance's uncashed LUNA and the huge amount of MATIC that can be checked on the chain. At the height of the market panic last year, Binance launched a $1 billion "Industry Recovery Fund" to support crypto projects and companies in trouble. According to the 2022 year-end review report released by Binance, Binance Labs has invested more than $500 million in the Web3 field, making it one of the few institutions in the industry that continues to invest.

In Binance, in addition to the dimension of product technology, He Yi will participate in other businesses to a greater or lesser extent. Someone asked what He Yi's position in the company is? She summarized it as "CZ helps the company find a direction, and I help the company find better people." Others think that He Yi is too much in charge, and she responded concisely, "I am a partner of the company."

Binance Totem

After Binance moved overseas, He Yi became the most stable bridge between Binance and the Chinese community. No matter where or when, you can find her. In the eyes of users, He Yi is Binance's "chief customer service", who responds to messages most quickly, and is often active in various WeChat groups late at night. As long as Binance has an event, she will personally send red envelopes in the group and ask everyone to forward it. In the eyes of passers-by, He Yi is the "firefighter" of Binance. He used to be on the front line fighting against competitors, and now he is the first to appear on Binance's various FUD sites to dispel rumors.

Has anyone ever asked He Yi about retirement? Her answer was decisive: "In 2017, I wrote this: Everyone thinks that Binance's ICO is to raise money, but in fact, you raise debts, and your debts may be a lifetime debt."

Although everyone calls her "Chief Customer Service", He Yi revealed that in Binance, in addition to customer service, she is responsible for everything related to users. From branding, public relations, to content and design. The second is user growth, such as user operations, event operations, etc. Even Binance's major customers, as well as the local markets of countries and regions around the world, are also under the responsibility of He Yi.

In fact, when it comes to lying flat, few people in the currency circle deserve a rest more than He Yi. Not only because of her experience, age, status and wealth, but also because she is already a mother of two children. In the circle of billionaires, you can hardly see a second founder like He Yi, who insists on being on the front line every day, understanding user needs and solving user problems in various communities. She often said that she only had one job at Binance: working for BNB holders.

Of course, He Yi's job is more than just "working". In the eyes of Binance people themselves, He Yi is also the "team architect" of this 8,000-person team. For He Yi, management has also become an art. "If someone in your team performs poorly, it must be the manager's problem, or you misjudged him from the beginning, which is a problem of your recruitment ability. Or you didn't put him in the right position, which is your management problem."

He Yi, who just joined Binance, is responsible for the work of the entire marketing department. In order to achieve zero-distance contact between the Binance brand and users, she gave the department a death order: everyone must be a customer service representative. For this reason, she personally trained the entire marketing department and answered all questions raised by users in all Binance user groups. In the early days of Binance, employees often worked overtime until 1:00 a.m., and He Yi would also work overtime until 1:00 a.m.

Under He Yi's guidance, the once unpopular "Binance Girls Group" has gradually become an independent presence in the Binance Chinese community. Sisi has changed from community and customer service to half a product manager, collecting suggestions for Binance from the entire Chinese area, Qiqi changed her name to Eva and worked in VIP and institutions, and Yingge was cheering for Binance Square. He Yi is practicing his goal of finding honest, capable and enthusiastic young people to build a "long-lasting" system.

Even though BNB has risen from one dollar to more than two hundred dollars, He Yi still feels that the responsibility is heavy. "Users hold your coins because they trust you. If it rises, it's good, and everyone is happy. If it falls, everyone may not be happy, and then you will feel that the responsibility on your shoulders will be heavier."

From this perspective, if someone can do better than He Yi in this position, she is willing to "step down and let the wise man do the job."

It can only be He Yi

On June 18, 2017, Zhao Changpeng, who was starting a business, invited He Yi to have a meal. She looked at the white paper and laughed, "They gave it a very strange Chinese name, like a supermarket. I said, why not call it Binance?"

Six years later, Binance gave He Yi the following evaluation on its official website:

"Binance's growth into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is inseparable from the business strategy created by He Yi and her team. She transformed Binance from a currency trading platform into a global blockchain ecosystem. Being able to break through strong enemies and occupy more than 60% of the market share, its strategic vision and personnel strategy are crucial to any company."

This year's Dubai Token2049, Yijie has become the most eye-catching person in Binance again. At the Binance event, He Yi wore a black dress and calmly shared the past and future of Binance. Twitter, WeChat groups, and Moments were full of selfies of participants and Yijie. Just like the name she gave to the company, Binance with He Yi always makes people feel more at ease.

When CZ retired, everyone was still worried about the future of Binance. Now, no one is more suitable for Binance than He Yi. Only she will reply to customers' simple and ordinary questions late at night, and only she will come out to fight back against FUD during turmoil. When asked about her annual salary at Binance, she said, "That's all pocket money, I don't pay much attention to it." Perhaps as she wrote six years ago, He Yi "likes to lead a group of people to conquer cities and ponds, likes the moment of celebrating victory, and likes to watch subordinates grow up and become independent." These are the things that make He Yi happy.

"She's pretty." This is the first impression many people have of He Yi, but they don't know the huge energy this woman has. Six years have passed, and Binance still needs He Yi in the future.

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