How Yi He Broke Crypto’s Glass Ceiling on the 2026 Fortune Power List

On May 27, 2026, Fortune dropped its 29th annual Most Powerful Women in Business list, and for the first time ever, a crypto-native executive claimed a spot. Binance’s co-founder and co-CEO Yi He landed at #64, a symbolic breakthrough for an industry long treated as an outsider in elite business circles . She was one of only 16 newcomers this year, joining a roster dominated by Wall Street and Big Tech chiefs . The recognition isn’t merely personal; it signals that digital assets are now part of the global financial establishment.

Who Is Yi He? The Co-Founder Turned Co-CEO

Yi He’s path to Fortune’s list started far from crypto trading floors. Before Binance, she worked as a Chinese television host, then pivoted into the blockchain world in 2014 at OKX (then Okcoin)—where she recruited Changpeng “CZ” Zhao as chief technology officer . When CZ launched Binance in 2017, he brought her on as a co-founder. For years, she served as chief marketing officer and became the public face of the exchange, especially in Asia .

In December 2025, Binance formalized her influence by promoting her to co-CEO alongside Richard Teng, who had taken over after CZ stepped down in 2023 . The move balanced Teng’s regulated-finance background with He’s deep ties to the crypto community . She also heads YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), the venture capital and family-office arm that invests in Web3, AI, and biotech . Reports from Fortune and the Wall Street Journal put her stake in Binance at roughly 10%, making her a multibillionaire and the exchange’s second-largest shareholder .

Binance’s Reaction and Why This Matters

The company didn’t keep quiet about the honor. Binance posted on X that He’s listing underscores her “vision and leadership in helping shape Binance,” and cast it as a watershed not just for her but for the wider crypto industry . The message was amplified across Binance’s global channels, framing the milestone as proof that digital-asset leaders can stand alongside executives from Citigroup, GM, and Accenture .

Industry observers echoed the sentiment. For years, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list included no one from the crypto sector, but He’s inclusion suggests the walls are cracking . She now sits in the same ranking as Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser (#1) and AMD chief Lisa Su (#3), a reflection of crypto’s deepening integration into mainstream finance .

Inside the Numbers: Binance’s Scale

He’s influence rests on Binance’s staggering reach. As of its 2025 year-end review:

• 300+ million registered users across more than 100 countries .
• $34 trillion in total trading volume processed in 2025 .
• Spot trading volume alone reached $7.1 trillion .
• Average daily trading volume across all products jumped 18% year-over-year .

Binance also became the first global crypto exchange to win full authorization under Abu Dhabi Global Market’s framework, bridging scale and regulation . The user base grew by 90 million in just three years—from 210 million in 2022 to over 300 million by the end of 2025 . That means roughly 1 in 27 people worldwide now has a Binance account .

The Next Target: From 300 Million to 3 Billion Users

Yi He isn’t slowing down. She has publicly set a target of 3 billion users, about ten times Binance’s current base . “1 billion is a clear goal, and we can achieve that,” she said earlier this year. “So for this reason, we set a more aggressive goal at the 3 billion target” .

The strategy goes beyond trading. He believes the next wave of adoption will come from payments, yield products, on-chain services, and tokenized traditional assets, not just spot or derivatives volume . In her vision, Binance transforms from a crypto exchange into “global financial infrastructure” .

That ambition tracks with broader industry trends. As of mid-2025, about 741 million people globally used crypto, and products built on crypto rails were scaling fast—real-world tokenized assets alone topped $25 billion . He’s own promotion and Fortune recognition now give her a global platform to push that narrative forward.

For a former TV host who entered the space only a decade ago, the Fortune nod is more than a personal trophy. It marks the moment crypto’s glass ceiling started to crack from the inside out.