Original author: Chen Teng
Original editor: Zhou Jinyu
Original source: Mirror Image Studio
Editor's Note:
With the resignation and imprisonment of Zhao Changpeng, the founder of Binance, the world has begun to focus on another co-founder who has long been overlooked, He Yi.
In 2017, Binance, after only 5 months of establishment, leaped from a rudimentary grassroots company to become the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and has maintained its position as the industry leader to this day.
During these 7 legendary years, which are perhaps the most legendary in Chinese entrepreneurship, He Yi has long been behind the scenes. She comes from humble beginnings, "has seen high mountains, seen low valleys, and seen the huge rifts in the world," and has ambitions to change the world; she once wandered in confusion, but now has a net worth of billions.
She possesses the typical diligence, flexibility, and shrewdness of Chinese entrepreneurs, which is crucial to Binance's success; it has also profoundly influenced Binance's culture: results-oriented. This corporate culture has clearly led to Binance's shocking rise, but has not earned Binance much respect beyond the secular world. When she advocates for changing the world, people feel a lack of true idealism.
The woman who emerged unscathed from the crisis
Xiaozhuang, Lü Hou, Wu Zetian, people are eager to use the vocabulary of historical female political figures to describe He Yi, a 38-year-old Chinese woman and co-founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Not so exaggerated, people say she is gentle, decisive, uniquely beautiful, or "look, she has a big mole on her chin, perfectly positioned, from a physiognomy perspective—she will have a great future, so she definitely won't have it removed through cosmetic surgery."
In the Chinese community, people depict this woman in such diverse ways. She has successfully created an admiration and trust that has made her a bridge between Binance and the Chinese world. And the Chinese world is one of Binance's largest markets.
For the global market, however, He Yi is a stranger: what exactly did she do at Binance, what influence did she exert, and how significant is her contribution. Her introduction is always, "I am Binance's chief customer service officer."
In contrast to this low profile, it is impossible to ignore the fact that she probably owns 10% of Binance, making her one of the richest women in the world and the most influential woman in the global cryptocurrency community. Even more striking is that in the past year and a half, when Binance was deeply mired in the darkest moments of U.S. regulation, fined $4.3 billion for money laundering, and founder Zhao Changpeng resigned and was imprisoned, He Yi, as the largest shareholder, increased Binance's user base from 130 million to 200 million. She aims to push the user base to 1 billion.
Moreover, people are surprised that in such a legal storm, He Yi managed to emerge unscathed. Court documents show that He Yi was involved in planning strategies to evade regulation. Media reports, citing anonymous sources, said that the U.S. Department of Justice also wanted He Yi to resign during early settlement negotiations, but ultimately did not hold her accountable, for reasons unknown. He Yi's name also did not appear in the plea agreement, for reasons unknown. However, the court will appoint an independent monitor to oversee Binance for 3-5 years, and He Yi has the power to participate in the selection of the monitor. The media described it as: U.S. authorities overturned the king of cryptocurrency, but the queen still stands tall.
● In 2023, Zhao Changpeng left the court in Seattle, USA. At the end of April this year, he was sentenced to four months in prison for money laundering. Image source: Visual China
Amidst the lack of clarity, people only recently understood from the court documents released this year: Zhao Changpeng did not divorce, and He Yi was his extramarital partner of 10 years, with whom they have three children. The unclear relationship between her and Zhao Changpeng has also sparked speculation from the outside world about whether she is just a figurehead, whether she is dependent on men, and what exactly she did to capture the heart of Zhao Changpeng, the richest Chinese, and other stereotypical impressions of powerful women._
Faced with low exposure and long-term behind-the-scenes suspicions, He Yi occasionally clarifies: "I am the one who brought Zhao Changpeng into the cryptocurrency circle," "Zhao Changpeng brought me into Binance based on my existing achievements, I entered the field running, with my own provisions." There are even rumors within the company that "He Yi has the final say."_
In this deliberate ambiguity, if there is anything clear, it is that He Yi never hides her ambition to change the world and believes that women should never be ashamed of it, "I am not just starting a business, I am creating history."
As Binance has passed the peak of its regulatory crisis over the years, with Zhao Changpeng imprisoned, the world's attention is now on her, the woman who is rumored to be "unknown to newcomers to the industry, but always the first to step forward when Binance encounters negative information and crises," a woman who never shies away from admitting that she is a "grassroots" woman._
"When there are no heroes, the son becomes famous"
In all of He Yi's public videos, you can always see a face: beautiful when smiling, gentle, speaking at a steady pace, and able to explain complex issues clearly. Her smile and speech have a charm that makes people watch and listen intently without feeling lengthy._
This soft and delicate feminine quality is not rare. However, since its inception, the cryptocurrency industry has been a realm of highly rational men, determined by the obscure academic language of cryptography. In early 2014, He Yi arrived in this world dominated by tech geeks, financial speculators, hackers, and fraudsters. She immediately captured people's attention.
At that time, she was a host on Beijing TV's "Beijing New Discovery," and had also been an outdoor host for travel satellite TV's "Beautiful Destinations" and "How Far Can You Go." When recalling those times, He Yi said, "Yes, I am not famous, I am just an unqualified, foolish TV show host."
Through a friend's introduction, the newly established Bitcoin exchange OKCoin invited He Yi to join, not only giving her the title of vice president and putting her in charge of marketing, but also allowing her to call herself a co-founder of the company, to facilitate her presence and represent the company at events._
Everything was unprofessional, but that was the cryptocurrency industry 10 years ago. It was not only called the wild west, but the practitioners were often considered to be involved in pyramid schemes, and He Yi, who became a vice president, had never worked in marketing for a single day._
She came from a poor rural area in Sichuan, where her father passed away when she was 9. Most people in her hometown dropped out of school to work in factories before the age of 16, and she also worked as a beverage promoter at 16, earning a monthly salary of 1,000; at 18, she worked as a store manager for two months in a bedding store; later, she went to Beijing to work as an assistant psychotherapist, but at the time she judged that there was little market for psychological counseling in China in the short term, so she gave up; she also worked as a class teacher, kicking open the door of the dormitory of male students who were skipping class and dragging them to class._
This is how He Yi spent her early years in wandering and confusion. She traded stocks a few times, feeling very strong about buying and making money. It wasn't until 2013, when she saw the price of Bitcoin rise to over $1,000, that she was greatly stimulated. She said it was the first time she started to think: What is money? Although her parents had always told her that money was important, at that point, she began to think, "The thing you used to think was money, maybe it's not money itself, so this directly led me to choose to enter the cryptocurrency industry and vowed to change the future of finance."_
"I want to change the world."
● He Yi at the age of 11. Image source: Internet
But just as He Yi officially joined OKCoin, the largest Bitcoin exchange at the time, collapsed in Mentougou, and Bitcoin plummeted, which He Yi described as a disaster. However, shortly after, she met Zhao Changpeng, who was speaking at a blockchain event. At the time, Zhao Changpeng had sold his house and invested all of it in Bitcoin. The drop in Bitcoin prices caused a significant reduction in his assets, and he described himself at the time as having failed in entrepreneurship several times. But He Yi described it as, "This did not dampen his enthusiasm for blockchain technology. His speech was full of idealism about how blockchain technology could bring positive changes to the world, which greatly influenced and inspired me."_
Not only that, but Zhao Changpeng and He Yi had similar backgrounds: born into teacher families, they came from and grew up in poor rural China.
He Yi repeatedly persuaded Zhao Changpeng, who was skilled in trading technology, to join OKCoin, and this was the first time they worked together. It was from this time that He Yi and Zhao Changpeng began their romantic relationship. At that time, Zhao Changpeng was already married and had two children.
Although she had no marketing experience, He Yi's marketing talent and insight into human nature quickly became apparent. She brought her effective experience as a "stupid" TV host into OKCoin and became a member of the BOSS team for a job-seeking program. She was interviewed by several magazines and successfully got OKCoin featured in "Fashion Bazaar."
In 2015, He Yi led OKCoin to play an advertisement on the main screen in New York's Times Square, which made OKCoin famous and captured 60% of the domestic Bitcoin trading volume, establishing OKCoin's position in the industry. That same year, due to conflicts between Zhao Changpeng and OKCoin founder Xu Mingxing, both He Yi and Zhao Changpeng left OKCoin. But from this point on, He Yi began to be called "the elder sister of the cryptocurrency circle" and "the lucky charm of the exchange." She herself commented: "When there are no heroes, the son becomes famous."
Due to a non-compete agreement, He Yi, with her excellent marketing experience, joined Pionex as a vice president, leading brand strategy and marketing operations. In fierce competition, He Yi signed up Song Joong-ki, coveted by many platforms, making their "Yizhibo" platform a leading live streaming platform. By the end of 2016, Pionex's platform "Miaopai" had a user penetration rate of 61.7%, with a daily user coverage of 70 million, and "Miaopai" and its subsidiary "Xiaokaxiu" had a peak daily playback volume of over 2.5 billion times. He Yi described it as, "I was a crucial part of the company's strategy to achieve a valuation of over $3 billion in financing." The IPO became a topic of discussion among Pionex employees.
He Yi recalled, "Many people tried to poach me, but it was only because of the name 'He Yi,' not because of my value. For the past two years, I have been the one behind the scenes making arrangements. Lao Zhao understands the value of having me as a partner."
On August 8, 2017, she accepted Zhao Changpeng's invitation and joined Binance as a true co-founder. She said, "I know that in China, I can run a very good company, but I still want to try to run a global company."
Setting off before the age of 30
Upon returning to the cryptocurrency industry, He Yi published an article titled "Setting Off Before the Age of 30":
"Some people die at the age of 30, while others prefer a life of ups and downs, full of grandeur. Whether facing love or work, you should give your all, leaving no room for regret in life, so that when you are old and weak, you will not regret not moving forward. Love when you should love, hate when you should hate, and live life to the fullest…"
This was one of the few times He Yi openly discussed love after entering the cryptocurrency industry. In 2019, the industry began to learn that she and Zhao Changpeng had their first child.
In her description, the desire for wholehearted dedication and a fulfilling life seems to surpass her desire for money. "When Pionex was preparing for an IPO, I chose to leave. Everything was reset, starting from scratch."
"In the end, I felt that maybe blockchain would make me feel more excited. Only it has this explosive growth."
Early days of Binance
The news of He Yi joining Binance was initially kept confidential. But once it was announced, it immediately caused a sensation. According to reports at the time: it was said that a mysterious guest who was about to take on an important role had joined Binance, hailed as "a key figure in the tech industry, the mastermind behind several well-known internet products." On the evening of August 8, in an investor's live broadcast room, there was a sudden announcement, "Welcome back to the cryptocurrency circle, He Yi, the beautiful lady."
In fact, on July 14, Zhao Changpeng had already established Binance. But in the 25 days before He Yi joined, Binance's situation was extremely dire.
At that time, Binance's BNB coin had already fallen below its issue price by fifty percent, meaning one coin was only worth fifty cents, and Binance was heavily criticized. Zhao Changpeng was under immense pressure and lost 10 kilograms in just three weeks.
After the news of He Yi's involvement was released, "Binance's own BNB coin trading volume surged, ranking directly into the global top 10. He Yi once said that this was based on investors' trust in her.
After investing in the company, He Yi had less than 1 million RMB left and bought all BNB. "My logic was, if you don't believe in something yourself, why should you let other investors buy it?" Half a month later, BNB rose from $0.149 to $2.57, nearly a 20-fold increase.
●Bitcoin. In 2014, He Yi entered the world dominated by tech geeks, financial speculators, hackers, and fraudsters. She immediately captured people's attention. Image source: Visual China
In the early days of Binance, another public image of He Yi was approachable. From day one, she called herself Binance's chief customer service officer.
To outsiders, terms like decentralization, Web3, DEFI, Ethereum, blockchain, ICO, and IEO, filled with a sense of the future and technology, were quite daunting for the general public. But at the time, people described how He Yi personally answered customer questions. She was always active in the community, chatting with everyone and asking customers, "Do you have any feedback? Do you think our product needs to change? Do you think our product is user-friendly?" People recalled, "The elder sister of the cryptocurrency circle" was still teaching users how to deposit money and buy coins in the group chat in the early hours of the morning, and she handled complaints immediately.
When asked about her advantage in an industry dominated by men, He Yi said, "Men's thinking is very linear, and I know better how to make users feel respected. A woman's delicacy is irreplaceable."
But she was much more than just customer service.
Just over a month after Binance was established, He Yi brought in Redpoint China, where she had been involved in investments during her time at Pionex, and signed an investment memorandum of understanding with Binance. At the time, Redpoint valued Binance at $80 million.
She also brought her live streaming experience to Binance. She not only live-streamed "airdrops" and giveaways on various platforms but also gave away Lamborghinis, Porsches, Maseratis, Mercedes, BMWs, virtual currencies worth tens of thousands of dollars, iPhone X, and other products during live streams. At one point, He Yi set a record by selling out 500 million Tron coins in 53 seconds.
As a big player, she often appeared in various WeChat groups, sending out red envelopes. Some described how "a group that was originally quiet immediately became lively as soon as He Yi entered." She not only initiated social referral rebate activities but also listed coins for free, allowing issuers to circulate their coins on the Binance platform for free. These actions quickly opened up the market for Binance.
At the time, industry leader Coinbase was adding 100,000 new users per day, while Binance was adding 250,000. The explosive growth led to excessive server pressure, forcing the temporary closure of new user registrations and switching to limited-time, limited-quantity registrations. At the same time, He Yi recruited volunteers—Binance Angels—from around the world to guide new users into the cryptocurrency field, organize meetups, and provide support for the Binance community.
She said Zhao Changpeng was responsible for direction and strategy, while she was less involved in product and technology but was responsible for helping the company make more money. On December 18, 2017, Binance's daily trading volume exceeded $3 billion, and Binance successfully rose to become the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. By January 10, 2018, the daily trading volume had surpassed $10 billion. Zhao Changpeng described Binance's early development as unexpected and extremely exponential growth. He Yi was rightfully called "the best marketer in the cryptocurrency circle."
Even today, with a net worth of billions, she remains active on the front lines. Sometimes she says, "I read every piece of advice and reply."
Beneath this seemingly modest and hardworking exterior is: customer service, the largest department within Binance; "user first" is Binance's core strategy; He Yi once issued a strict order that everyone at Binance must be in customer service; she provided training for the entire marketing department, requiring every new mid-level and senior-level employee to undergo customer service training and spend 2-6 hours on rotation in the customer service department every quarter to understand user feedback and engage in strategic thinking.
To this day, she describes her life as very dull: waking up early to exercise, attending 4 meetings, feeding her child, attending 5 more meetings, spending time with her child, attending 2 more meetings, reading, and sleeping. She says this repetitive and monotonous routine may be the reason she can always make clear decisions.
Retreating behind the scenes
However, in this rapidly growing emerging market, with cryptocurrencies that roam globally and are difficult to regulate, Binance has never obtained a legal operating license, let alone established a headquarters. He Yi recently admitted that she is a person with a strong sense of crisis, and regulation has been the biggest crisis for Binance over the years.
After Binance became the world's largest exchange, as regulations tightened, He Yi gradually retreated behind the scenes. It was from this point that people began to see less clearly what specific role He Yi played. Almost all of Binance's news revolved around Zhao Changpeng, with occasional snippets about He Yi: she made significant iterations to the solutions provided by suppliers, reducing costs by millions of dollars every month; she took charge of Binance's venture capital arm, Binance Labs, with a market value of $10 billion, investing in approximately 250 companies, making it the largest venture capital firm in the cryptocurrency industry; the establishment of Binance Smart Chain was also credited to He Yi; she was responsible for listing operations; she architected the entire team of 8,000 people; the business strategy she led the team to create transformed Binance into a global blockchain ecosystem, and more.
Apart from the technical aspects, she exerted influence in various departments at Binance, and she never shied away from describing her management style as "very strict."
According to media reports, in 2022, Binance signed football star Cristiano Ronaldo for $60 million. However, after the marketing campaign began, He Yi complained to the marketing team that the campaign did not meet expectations, leading to the resignation of the global vice president of marketing responsible for the project. He Yi once produced a reality show called "Building Blocks" and served as a guest judge on the premiere episode, which only garnered 4,400 views on YouTube. The producer in charge of the show was subsequently laid off.
This is not difficult to understand, as both He Yi and Zhao Changpeng have emphasized in various occasions that Binance's culture is results-oriented.
In 2019, when the market was in a downturn, Binance chose to re-enter the Chinese community and enter the high-risk futures contract business that it had previously avoided. At the time, He Yi said, "We used to focus too much on compliance. Now, our competitors are not afraid, so we are not afraid either. We need to keep up with them."
Binance's return intensified the competition among domestic exchanges, and He Yi began to appear frequently in the Chinese community again. After being named as a "third party" and "auntie" by a competitor and former employer OKCoin in a WeChat group, she posted a job advertisement on Weibo: "The standard is beauty, big chest, experience as an online anchor, preferably born after 2000, good at chatting, meeting any three criteria is acceptable. Job description: online chatting."
Soon, she announced that she had recruited a 1998-born, fair-skinned, and beautiful customer manager for Binance, with the stage name "Binance 66." Soon, photos of 66 with long legs and a large chest were widely circulated on her social media.
OKCoin attacked He Yi, saying, "They pushed an excellent girl into the public eye in this way." On her first day at work, 66 received over a thousand friend requests on WeChat, and she said she received many offensive and abusive messages. Some even edited 66's photos with text like "Deposit 20 bitcoins at Binance and get a night with 66" or "Buy bitcoins and get 66's personal clothing," which began to spread in the group. 66 couldn't hold back and cried, "The second day in the cryptocurrency circle, this is probably the cruelest arena I have ever seen in my short life, especially the part about competition, which showed me the ugly side of human nature."
He Yi received the evaluation of "turning the exchange into a nightclub": "This high-profile 'nightclub-style' marketing was successful for Binance, but it was disastrous for the entire industry." In fact, when He Yi was still working at OKCoin, for marketing purposes, she took a set of swimsuit photos of herself, priced at 0.5 bitcoins per set, and posted on Weibo: "Playing around and playing myself."
Faced with dirty language from netizens greeting 66's mother, some suggested she should reply, "My mom is busy, you can talk to me." He Yi said, "I'm not entirely sure if I can calmly respond with 'My mom is busy,' but I still insist that we can handle this more professionally." She said, "Steve Jobs had a quote that I appreciate, 'A players hire A players, and B players hire C players.' So when I manage, I don't tend to cater to their ego too much."
While making a strong comeback in the Chinese community, Binance also decided to make a push in the United States. The U.S. is not only the world's largest cryptocurrency market but is also primarily driven by institutional trading. In 2019, Binance established its U.S. branch. At the time, He Yi led the marketing strategy for Binance US, promoting it as completely independent from the main platform and committed to complying with U.S. laws and regulations.
However, court documents showed that in June 2019, Zhao Changpeng said at an internal meeting, "He Yi is right, we don't need to choose one of the three. We can support all three choices at the same time, and users can choose for themselves." At the time, Zhao Changpeng was discussing how to help U.S. users evade regulation and transfer to the main Binance platform.
From 2017 to 2022, over 1 million U.S. retail customers conducted 20 million deposit and withdrawal transactions on Binance, worth $65 billion. These users engaged in over 900 million spot trades, worth over $550 billion. Additionally, due to the deliberate failure to implement effective anti-money laundering measures, Binance earned substantial fees from U.S. users, especially from transactions involving illegal activities, including drugs, terrorism, and child abuse, as well as transactions involving customers subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions. The proceeds from these transactions involving illegal activities handled by Binance could involve drug trafficking, terrorism, child abuse, and more.
In his plea agreement, Zhao Changpeng wrote: These strategies helped Binance grow into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Furthermore, in 2022, Binance launched a program for electronic IDs from Palau: users could spend $248 to obtain an electronic identity from this Pacific island nation to bypass regulation and access Binance trading. The report stated that executives had warned He Yi of the legal risks of doing so, but she continued to push forward until the media exposed the matter, prompting Binance to finally stop accepting Palauan identities.
It is these measures that have kept Binance in the position of the world's largest exchange for nearly seven years.
Rich but not noble
Perhaps the real opponent He Yi encountered was FTX, a trading platform established in May 2019 that quickly gained popularity, and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). He is referred to as "French fries" in the Chinese community.
He Yi admitted that going global was a challenge for her, both in terms of language and culture. Although her English was constantly improving, cultural adaptation was inevitably more difficult for her.
In the Chinese community, He Yi quickly attracted users with low trading fees, luxury cars, benefits, and beautiful customer service representatives. In the United States, French fries used large sums of money to sponsor sports arenas, run Super Bowl ads, and enlist celebrity endorsements. From the beginning, French fries emphasized himself as an "effective altruistic genius." His marketing strategy was more like a moral game with a noble spirit. When talking about French fries, He Yi said, "He graduated from an Ivy League school, comes from a political family, and has a blue-blooded background on Wall Street." She always said, "We are grassroots, always have been."
In 2022, when the industry experienced another downturn, French fries allocated $1 billion within 14 days to rescue struggling projects. This was a shocking amount for French fries, whose personal valuation was $10 billion at the time. He gained industry influence as a "philanthropist who is truly needed in the industry's most difficult times to defend it." (For more information about FTX and French fries, see the "Opponent" section in the article "CZ, the richest Chinese: prisoner of power.")
At the time, Bloomberg interviewed He Yi about French fries' actions, asking, "What is Binance's approach?"
"Our style is practical and steady. We don't need to increase our valuation or tell stories just for the sake of it. We need results," He Yi replied. In fact, Binance's venture capital profit margin was 2100%, which was already leading in the industry.
●In 2023, in New York, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at court. Perhaps his moral marketing approach made He Yi realize that the image of being rich but not noble cannot prevail, and people ultimately yearn for a noble spirit. Image source: Visual China
Although French fries were convicted of fraud and misappropriation of customer assets last year, perhaps his moral marketing approach also made He Yi realize that the image of being rich but not noble cannot prevail, and people ultimately yearn for a noble spirit. He Yi, a successful woman and mother of three, began a new marketing angle: women's rights.
On this year's International Women's Day, Binance launched a high-end luxury perfume called Crypto, claiming that this perfume "blends finance with fragrance." This marketing, which exudes the scent of money, aims to "attract more women into the cryptocurrency industry," "empower women in the cryptocurrency industry," and "ensure that no woman is forgotten in this financial revolution."
However, this marketing was questioned by the tech blog TechCrunch: whether it would create a gendered stereotype, implying that women are only interested in feminized material goods. Binance responded, "I don't want to interpret this matter with a condescending attitude. I want a playful approach."
In addition, unlike the early recruitment content emphasizing long legs and a large chest, Binance began to promote its efforts in women's rights, such as how Binance addresses the challenges faced by women in terms of childbirth and careers. He Yi said, "Our organization provides a very supportive environment for the success of female executives and employees, including promotion opportunities after maternity leave. Many women at Binance have experienced this and have been promoted." But there is a condition: "As long as their abilities and contributions are strong enough to successfully lead a team."
But the bottom line is about business, not people.
Although Binance has been successful in marketing, its media relations have not been as desired by He Yi. According to media reports, she once told subordinates, "Be persistent in countering any negative reports." She described Binance's style as "confrontational," and repeatedly emphasized on multiple occasions: mainstream media demonizes Binance.
However, the "results-oriented" Binance always attracts comments like this: Binance only cares about its own interests, user growth, and the consolidation of its empire. As a business entity, this may be understandable. But since the birth of Bitcoin, it has carried an indelible idealistic glow—using blockchain technology to dissolve power, restore individual freedom, and build a decentralized future.
In addition to Bitcoin, in the crypto community, people often look to Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, the world's second-largest blockchain. From information related to Ethereum and Buterin, it is easy to see his concern for vulnerable groups, his thoughts on rights and democracy, his yearning for blockchain-driven innovation, and his overall contemplation of the direction of the world. This easily gives people a feeling of respecting life and individual value, a kind of financial freedom that is not hollow. Binance's official vision is to spread this freedom globally, believing that spreading this freedom can make the world a better place.
But it seems difficult to see these qualities in the "results-oriented" Binance. And once, in the highly rational male-dominated world of the cryptocurrency community, people were so attracted by He Yi's emotional, delicate, and soft feminine qualities, and so hopeful of her potential to change the world.
"I have seen the highs and lows."
When Zhao Changpeng faced an uncertain prison sentence, He Yi wrote a plea letter to the judge, which was widely circulated in the cryptocurrency community. In this letter, there was no mention of the core Binance value of being "results-oriented," and Zhao Changpeng was not portrayed as a "hardworking and flexible machine chasing results." Instead, He Yi attempted to restore Zhao Changpeng's qualities as a "respected person": "He is not someone whose ultimate goal is to make money," "He is kind and has a humanitarian spirit."
And to this day, Zhao Changpeng's wife, Yang Weiqing, who still maintains a marriage relationship with him, also wrote a plea letter. The concise and brief words, although permeated with the wordless sadness of marriage, more concentratedly revealed another side of Zhao Changpeng's personality:
"Hello. My name is Yang Weiqing, and I have known Mr. Zhao Changpeng since 1999. We got married in 2003. After getting married, I have always been a full-time housewife and have not participated in any work. Changpeng has always borne all the household expenses. Before the success of Binance, Changpeng had experienced several failed entrepreneurial experiences. But during the most difficult times of entrepreneurial failure, he still maintained the family expenses for me and the children. Over the years, Changpeng has also been taking care of my family. He helped my parents buy a house in Tokyo and also helped my nephew find a job."
In the 161 plea letters to the judge, Zhao Changpeng's children, sister, and friends who played volleyball with him in his youth, sincerely described how Zhao Changpeng responsibly treated them. If there is any so-called omission in these letters, it is Zhao Changpeng's responsibility to He Yi, the co-founder who helped build Binance into the world's largest exchange, and the mother of his three children.
●He Yi and Zhao Changpeng. Image source: Internet
The public may find it difficult to judge whether, in the face of high regulatory risks in recent years, Zhao Changpeng deliberately kept He Yi in the background to help her avoid regulatory scrutiny. In her letter, she quoted Zhao Changpeng's old words: "No one wants to be a hero, because no one is born wanting to be at the forefront taking arrows. Heroes are forced to protect their families, communities, ethnic groups, and homelands and do the right thing, and in the process, they have to become heroes."
In response to speculation, He Yi's explanation was, "I didn't appear in public because my English is not good. But if I did, people would think this is a Chinese company, right?"
Regardless, the final result is that Zhao Changpeng was imprisoned for four months, while He Yi emerged unscathed from a legal perspective. Whether people think this is a Chinese company or not, this may be the most legendary 7 years of Chinese entrepreneurship. And He Yi was crucial in it.
She once said, "I come from a humble background, I have seen the highs and lows, and I have seen the huge divisions in the world, so when I have greater abilities, I instinctively want to do something for this world. I want to see what I can leave behind for this world."
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