inance Co-Founder and Co-CEO Yi He has been officially recognized on Fortune Magazine’s prestigious Most Powerful Women in Business list, according to a recent post by Binance on X. This inclusion honors Yi’s strategic vision and leadership in driving Binance’s global trajectory. Notably, it also marks the first time a crypto-native executive has entered this iconic ranking—a milestone achievement for Yi, Binance, and the digital asset industry as a whole.
Moving Crypto into the Global Mainstream
Reflecting on the achievement, Yi emphasized that this recognition transcends personal accolades. Instead, she viewed it as a definitive testament to the collective dedication of the Binance team, its global user base, and the broader blockchain community.
For Yi, this moment signals a profound paradigm shift: cryptocurrency is successfully transitioning from the fringes of finance and niche technology into the global mainstream. It reflects the industry’s evolution from a novel, speculative market into an essential piece of real-world infrastructure that actively impacts daily life.
Yi reiterated that effective leadership at Binance stems from an acute understanding of real customer needs. She frequently refers to herself as the company’s “Chief Customer Service Officer,” a title that underscores Binance’s core corporate culture of staying close to its community and engineering products that solve tangible problems.
As a primary example of this practical utility, she highlighted cross-border remittances. Through Binance Pay, millions of users worldwide can now transfer funds faster and far more affordably, significantly reducing the transactional friction and financial burdens traditionally borne by families globally.
Drawing from her personal background growing up in rural Sichuan, Yi framed Binance’s core mission around accessibility and financial inclusion, particularly for underserved populations and women who have historically been locked out of formal banking systems.
Rather than adopting a top-down approach of “empowerment,” Yi stressed the necessity of dismantling systemic structural barriers. By removing these hurdles, individuals are given the autonomy and open access needed to independently shape and build their own financial futures.
Looking to the future, the Co-CEO connected this Fortune recognition to Binance’s long-term macro ambitions: expanding its reach from over 300 million users today to serving 3 billion people globally. In her view, the goal is not merely to operate a trading platform, but to construct an open, highly efficient, and globally accessible financial infrastructure especially for the billions of unbanked adults worldwide.
Furthermore, Yi pointed to the convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain as a pivotal opportunity. She believes this technological intersection will ensure that future productivity gains and value creation are distributed equitably across society, rather than being concentrated within a select few monopolies.
Ultimately, Yi He’s inclusion on Fortune’s list represents more than a personal milestone. It signals a growing global validation of cryptocurrency’s role in modernizing finance, democratizing economic access, and establishing tools for a more inclusive global economy.
Linda Jean
