Original author: Jack
Original source: Rhythm
In the past two days, a plea letter to the Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington has been particularly popular in the circle.
On April 30, Binance founder CZ will receive a final verdict in the same court, where he faces a recommended sentence of 12 to 18 months according to US sentencing guidelines, but there is also news that he could 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 arguing that he should be held fully responsible. In addition to CZ's letter, there are other plea letters from family, friends, dignitaries, employees, and other important people, a total of 161 letters, among which He Yi's own handwriting is the most eye-catching.
The letter is 3 pages long, and between the lines is a deep affection for CZ and Binance. He Yi recalled the 10 years of ups and downs he and CZ have experienced together in the industry, especially the 6 years of building Binance together, and some of the little things that are unknown are the epitome of CZ and Binance's actions. Many elderly people in the industry said on social media that they were deeply touched after reading it, and lamented that after all these years, "many things have changed, but the first sister is still your first sister".
I remember one night in June last year, a message was sent in the WeChat group of the editorial department: "The first sister is very angry".
On the same day, Bloomberg published an interview with He Yi, which was the first time that the mainstream Western financial media reported on the woman behind the 10 billion unicorn in a full article, and the Chinese media compiled and forwarded it. The title of the interview article is "The Most Powerful Woman in the Crypto Field, Speaking Out in the Time of Binance Crisis", and after careful reading, people find that Bloomberg does not seem to recognize the "superpower" that this "Binance strong woman" has and displayed in the cryptocurrency circle.
In the article, He Yi becomes a female executive who has "been hiding from the eyes of authority for six years" and is now "trapped in the crypto empire", and her influence on the crypto world stems more from her attachment to CZ. Bloomberg even used FTX founder SBF's relationship with his executive Caroline to hint at the legendary founder couple in the crypto industry, and did not comment on He Yi's claims of "bringing CZ into the circle" and "joining Binance with ability".
Earlier this month, the SEC sued Binance and Coinbase one after another, classifying a number of mainstream currencies as securities, and the crypto market was once again in turmoil. According to Nansen's data, 24 hours after the news of the SEC's indictment, Binance was withdrawn a total of more than $3 billion worth of crypto assets, with a net outflow of about $1.43 billion. Subsequently, Binance.US was pursued again, and the SEC applied for asset freezing, announcing the removal of multiple trading pairs within a day, and then successively exposed the news of the resignation of the company's executives. In the face of the FUD brought about by the regulatory wave, He Yi immediately stood up and responded in the community.
The Western media reported this bloody smell of regulation vividly, and He Yi, who continued to speak out, became a bird under the gun. In the interview article, Bloomberg made a big fuss about Binance Labs and the listing department led by He Yi, criticizing Binance's chaotic management and lack of transparency as traditional finance. In Bloomberg's eyes, He Yi is Binance's "single point of failure" and the "shadow dictator" of the crypto market.
And this is not the first time she has appeared frequently in the community this year. In May, Binance was slammed by the community for the poor quality and performance of its Launchpad listing program, with words such as "girlfriend coin" and "no recognition" found in almost every Binance-related tweet. During this time, He Yi, from early morning to one or two o'clock in the evening, replied to every tweet, and some even directly "battled online".
The last time He Yi was publicly aligned like this was 4 years ago. Newcomers who have just entered the circle this year may think she has a bad temper when they see He Yi on Twitter, but the first sister 4 years ago is not used to your faults in the WeChat group at all, whether she is reasonable or torn, her brows are not wrinkled. In 2019, in order to promote Binance's just-launched contract products, the scene of He Yi tearing each other with "friends" such as Huobi and OK in the WeChat group was 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 even more powerful than CZ in the currency circle. But the Western media don't know this, CZ is the only "rock star" in their eyes, and there is only CZ in 90% of the reports about Binance. He Yi did not have such treatment, her English was not very good, and she began to retreat into the background after Binance switched to the international market, and He Yi, who was no longer in the spotlight, gradually faded out of the media's sight, let alone known to newcomers in the circle. But she will always be the first to stand up when Binance encounters FUD and crises, and reminds everyone with a straightforward and bold reply: In the cryptocurrency circle, your first sister is still your first sister.
A sister in the currency circle
He Yi, formerly known as He Ying, was born in 1986 in a remote village in Sichuan Province. Because both parents are teachers, and children of the same age are still in kindergarten, He Yi has already begun to study in the first grade of primary school. At that time, He Yi was five years old, and she seemed out of place in school, and she spent more time reading her parents' books at home. But even though he couldn't play with his classmates, He Yi always got the first place in the exam.
11-year-old He Yi
When he was 16 years old, He Yi did a drink promotion and could earn 1,000 yuan a month. At the age of 18, she worked as a home furnishings store manager for two more months, taking care of the accounts and people. In 2006, at the age of 20, He Yi studied for a master's degree in psychological counseling in Beijing. After obtaining her qualification, she found that even China's top psychologists were not living well. "The cultural nature of China determines the limitations of psychotherapy, and it is difficult to develop to the level of universal recognition in a short period of time like abroad." He Yi understands very well that where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there is psychology. He Yi, who had been an assistant psychological counselor for a while, immediately quit his job and went to Lijiang alone.
It just so happened that his friend's school was recruiting a class teacher, and there was no requirement that he should be able to endure hardships, so He Yi volunteered to go for an interview. After talking with the head of the department and the principal, He Yi became the head teacher of the university. She later recalled, "My sense of responsibility and my ability to manage and communicate with young people developed by leaps and bounds during that time. At that time, He Yi was in charge of art students, and most of them were unruly, but they were convinced by He Yi. Once a student skipped class, He Yi directly kicked open the door of the boys' dormitory and dragged the student who did not attend class into class.
"Chinese New Year Red Envelope Smecta!"
In 2012, He Yi's life ushered in the first turning point, and a friend who was a choreographer suggested that she try to be a host. In the final round of interviews, the on-site sponsors and the management of the satellite TV program team asked the contestants to talk about their advantages. Ho Yi's exact words were, "I have a background in psychology, so I have a strong sense of empathy and can communicate well with different people. I studied makeup, so you can save money on a makeup artist. I don't ask for anything in return, you can give me as much as you want. 」
In this way, she became the location host of Tourism Satellite TV's "Beautiful Destination" and "How Far to Go", and later went to Beijing Satellite TV to be the host of "Beijing New Discovery". But the station's job isn't all spotlight and food, and for more than a year, I've been running around the country with the show, sometimes wading kne-deep muddy water or camping on a rainstorm night. Later, He Yi recalled his experience as a travel host on the show: "When I was turning mountains in Qinghai, there was no water, no electricity, and no signal, and when it was almost dark, I got lost with the army. You can hear the wolf howling in the distance, and you can hear the creaking of the snowy mountains up close."
In fact, He Yi's courage and tenacity can already be seen at this time. Of course, what has achieved He Yi is not only tenacity in desperate situations, but also some pursuits that she has always adhered to. At that time, many popular hosts liked to play with directors or friends in the circle, but she was not, she always mingled 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 start a business and create something different," she said in a later interview.
In November 2013, after Bitcoin fell rapidly after standing at $1,100, OKCoin, which had just started its business, was preparing to hold a Bitcoin red envelope event during the Spring Festival to activate the market. At that time, Mai Gang, an investor in OKCoin, approached 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, and after some understanding, He Yi immediately sent a red envelope to OKCoin on WeChat Moments, leaving a message "Spring Festival Red Envelope Smecta!".
During the Spring Festival, in order to thank the people who helped OKCoin distribute red envelopes, Mai Gang called everyone together and organized a gathering of Chinese youth angels. At this party, He Yi met Xu Xingxing, the founder of OKCoin, for the first time. The two chatted about blockchain and Bitcoin at the party, when Mai Gang suddenly said, "Star, isn't your company looking for someone to do marketing? Isn't that right?" Xu Xingxing chatted in Xingtou, so he invited He Yi to come to the company to have a look, and He Yi agreed.
In the second week after the end, He Yi went to Xu Xingxing's company. They chatted briefly downstairs, and after Xu Xingxing introduced the company and personal background to He Yi, he gave He Yi an offer with an annual salary of 400,000 yuan, and He Yi, who was curious about this new world, took it on the spot, "I chatted with Lao Xu very happily, he gave me an offer, and I accepted it without even talking about the price." After the Spring Festival, I will report on it."
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 PR, then planned the event, and then took over customer service, and the whole process was very fast.
At the beginning of 2014, Brother Worm, the founder of OneBit, visited OKCoin. Later, he recalled OKCoin's office environment at the time: "OK Group was in a modest office building, the office was a mezzanine room, and there was a big KT plastic sign at the door that said OKEX. When she works overtime, she likes to wear black clothes, like a big sister, they work day and night."
According to many employees, during his tenure at OKCoin, He Yi led the team to complete the turnaround in the PR crisis many times. He Yi was also given the nickname "First Sister in the Currency Circle" because of this. In the first sister's own words, "I asked myself what kind of person I wanted to be, and I wanted to be a person who influenced the development of the world, or at least participated 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 Tianjin TV job search show "You Must Belong" that He Yi participated in later. He Yi walked in front of the camera again as a "BOSS team". Sharp words, as well as witty and affinity, have made many people know her, as well as the OKCoin behind her.
In April 2015, under the leadership of He Yi, OKCoin played an ad on the home screen of Times Square in New York, USA, "Bitcoin is here, OKCoin is here, Everything will be OK!". The news was reported by the People's Daily, and OKCoin's trading volume soared, successfully capturing 60% of the domestic bitcoin trading volume.
Prior to this, OKCoin had already done enough exposure in China. In 2014, on behalf of OKCoin, He Yi was interviewed by magazines such as Jia Ren, Financial World Weekly, and Blog World. At the end of the year, OKCoin became the first cryptocurrency trading platform to be featured in Harper's Bazaar, a high-end magazine, and the editors of the journal described this unstoppable new force as "OKCoin Tiantuan" and gave it a full few pages. At that time, OKCoin was called the "most fashionable internet finance company" in China by the media.
It is worth noting that in the OKCoin "Tiantuan Photo" published by Harper's Bazaar, Xu Xingxing has one more person next to him. This is another of Ho's great achievements during his time at OKCoin, which brought CZ to OKCoin.
In 2014, Changpeng Zhao was just a Canadian technology returnee, working as a technical director at the cryptocurrency market website Blockchain.info. Once, He Yi was holding an event for OKCoin in Hangzhou, and CZ was the 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 approached CZ and asked for some discounts, but CZ told He Yi, "Our ads are not discounted". He Yi, who was rejected, was even more optimistic about CZ. He Yi believes that he did not affect decision-making because of personal favors, and he is very professional. Later, he introduced CZ to Xu Xingxing and pulled him into OKCoin.
CZ has done a great job as a newcomer to the company, managing the development of all products except for the infrastructure, custody, and security of on-chain transactions. Because of his good English, CZ will also be responsible for the promotion of overseas markets. In this way, the "iron triangle of the cryptocurrency circle" that has resounded in the crypto industry for 14 years has been formed.
Of course, it seems that this triangle is not so "iron" in fact. In the entrepreneurial circle, Yishan has never tolerated two tigers, CZ and Xu Xingxing 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 signed an agreement with its former owner, Blockchain.info, that OKCoin would operate the Bitcoin.com domain for five years, during which time the site's advertising revenue would be owned by OKCoin. However, due to poor operational results, OKCoin wanted to terminate the cooperation early. But Roger Ver, the owner of Bitcoin.com and known as the "Bitcoin Jesus," argued that OKCoin should be compensated on a monthly basis, and a months-long financial dispute erupted.
To Xu's surprise, CZ sided strongly with Roger Ver in this dispute, pointing out OKCoin's violation of professional ethics and forging his signature for bank transfers. Immediately afterward, OKCoin issued a statement saying that CZ not only falsified the contract, but also fabricated lies to attack OKCoin. Eventually, the war ended with OKCoin firing CZ. As the introducer of CZ to join the company, He Yi was also caught in the middle of this controversy and was in a dilemma. In the second half of 2015, He Yi said goodbye to OKCoin in a low-key manner.
"Hurry to start again at 30"
After coming out of OKCoin, in addition to holding some bitcoins, He only had 100,000 yuan in cash in his hand. During this time, many peers threw olive branches to her, telling her, "You can pay as much as you want", but He Yiquan, who had a non-compete agreement, decisively refused. In fact, even after the great success of OKCoin, many people's impression of He Yi is still a "coin vase", and everyone invited He Yi to join their company, more because they liked the name "He Yi".
But Zhang Ling, who was the investment manager of Kleiner Perkins Huaying Investment Fund at the time, watched He Yi build the OKCoin brand in less than a year, and she thought He Yi had great potential, so she recommended her to Han Kun, the founder of the technology. At the end of 2015, the company completed the D round of financing and received $200 million, but the company still did not have a marketing department. Han Kun invited He Yi to join the technology and coordinate the entire market business. Soon after, He Yi became the vice president of technology, with an annual salary of one million and options.
"You just want to reap and you don't want to give, it's impossible. During the OKCoin period, I have been using the name of He Yi to speak out, and I have used the credit of this name to vouch for the company. After leaving, I want to stand behind the scenes and use professionalism to accomplish all the strategic goals", He Yi, after leaving OKCoin, also began to try to work behind the scenes.
Many people may not know about technology, but the very popular live broadcast, small coffee show and second shot are all their products, and the success of these products, each of which is directly related to He Yi. In 2016, South Korean actor Song Joong Ki became popular in China with "Descendants of the Sun", and his influence and huge fan base behind it are the big cake that every live broadcast platform covets. And a live broadcast led by He Yi was stunned to sign Song Joong Ki among many cooperation invitations. A few months later, the number of video views on Song Joong Ki's official account exceeded 160 million, and the highest number of simultaneous online people in a single live broadcast exceeded 3.5 million.
Whether it is in the currency circle or in Internet technology companies, the logic of the market is the same as the logic of understanding users, and He Yi's constant points in the industry changes are used perfectly. "Whether it is live broadcast, short video, or video, in fact, it is no longer fighting alone, but competing on the same starting line, this starting line 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 a live broadcast, a second shot, and a small coffee show. Later, a live broadcast once became the preferred platform for live broadcast by people in the currency circle.
One night in August 2017, "Bao Erye" Guo Hongcai was doing a live broadcast on a live broadcast platform, and suddenly shouted "Welcome He Yida beauty back to the currency circle!" The people who were watching the live broadcast were shocked and hurriedly turned on the news, only to see the news of He Yi's resignation from the technology.
In 2017, when the development of science and technology was booming, He Yi decided to say goodbye to the company and his "boss" Han Kun. On August 8, she officially announced her farewell to technology with a "resignation article" entitled "Start Again at the Age of 30!". He Yi wrote in the article: "I like to take a group of people to attack the city and the pool, I like the moment of toasting to victory, and I like to watch my subordinates grow up to be independent, these things can make me happy." As a result, the first sister in the cryptocurrency circle, who has "disappeared" for two years, decided to make a high-profile return, "everything is zero, start from scratch", and join forces with CZ again as a CMO to build Binance.
Many newcomers who have entered the circle may not know the huge impact of the news of "the return of the first sister" in the currency circle at that time, but in a report by Golden Finance, we can get a glimpse of it, and the beginning of the article is like this:
"A few days ago, I just heard that Binance (the full name of Binance Blockchain Asset Trading Platform) came in a mysterious guest who is about to take on an important position, known as "an important entrepreneur in the technology circle and the driving force behind many well-known Internet products"...... At that time, I was really shocked to see the introduction of Binance's quiz activities, and my mood also hung up. 」
In July 2017, Binance launched its own platform token, BNB, with an issue price of 1 yuan. But shortly after it went live, BNB fell below the issue price, and one BNB was only worth 5 cents. At that time, Binance was scolded miserably, and He Yi later recalled that it was the most stressful period for CZ, and he lost a full 10 kilograms in three weeks. As soon as the news of He Yi's joining Binance was announced, the price of BNB rose in response, and the trading volume of BNB and the newly launched BTM token on the platform immediately surged, ranking 10th in the world in terms of trading volume. 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 deliberate 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 to enter the venue and bring her own dry food".
This "dry food" is not only one's own work experience, but also the assets that one has accumulated over the years. After He Yi invested money in the company, she had less than 1 million yuan left in her hand, so she simply bought all Binance coins. "My logic is, if you do something and you don't believe it yourself, why should you let other investors buy it?"
He Yiyi's previous operational experience in a live broadcast was brought to Binance, and he sent coins and luxury cars in the live broadcast, which seemed simple and rude, but it really gathered a lot of traffic for Binance. On August 22, He Yi connected with Sun Yuchen to do a live broadcast and talk about the TRON project. During the live broadcast, He Yi launched a TRON flash sale, and in just 53 seconds, 500 million TRON were sold, and TRON was recognized as the "first ICO project" in the second half of 2017.
On the 25th, He Yi successfully found a gold medal endorsement for Binance, signing a letter of intent with Sequoia China on behalf of Binance. The letter of intent stipulates that Sequoia China will invest approximately RMB60 million in a 10.7% Series A financing round to Binance, and Sequoia China has agreed to provide a bridge loan worth approximately RMB30 million to Binance's Japanese subsidiary. Binance's valuation suddenly came to 500 million yuan.
But Binance, which was about to reach its peak, encountered the "Cryptocurrency Disaster Day" a week later. On September 4, 2017, the state cracked down on the chaos in the cryptocurrency industry, and seven government ministries announced that they would stop all token issuance and financing activities, including ICOs. As soon as the news came out, Bitcoin dived, and everyone thought that the cryptocurrency was going to die. At this time, it has been less than a month since He Yi joined Binance.
Of course, for Binance, "94" is a rare opportunity to "overtake". Binance has always only been engaged in spot trading, the company's servers are also registered overseas, and CZ itself is still a foreigner, so it has become natural to take the international route, "Since China can't do it at the moment, we have decisively withdrawn from the Chinese market and focused on international business."
At that time, many other investors were impressed by Binance's "market price clearance" for Chinese investors. According to industry rules, if the issue price is one dollar, then only one dollar needs to be refunded when it is liquidated, and the principal will be returned to the investor. However, Binance decided to withdraw BNB at the market price, and at that time, the price of BNB was still around $6 after a round of surge, and there were many projects involving ETH, and Binance also refunded the coins at the market price of ETH, subsidizing a large amount of money. For Binance, although this wave is a loss, it has won the trust of the industry.
After that, He Yi resisted the pressure to promote Binance on social media, recommending "Tony's" "circumvention tutorial" to users. On the other hand, Binance was instructed to take the lead in opening cards in Japan to fill the vacancy of the domestic trading platform. For a while, a large number of domestic users such as OKCoin and Huobi flowed to Binance, and Binance began to soar again, soaring all the way.
On December 15, 2017, four months after He Yi joined Binance, Binance announced its own operating data: the top three global trading volumes, the 24-hour trading volume exceeded $2.1 billion, and the BNB market capitalization increased by 100% month-on-month. On December 18, Binance's single-day trading volume exceeded $3 billion, making it the world's No. 1 crypto trading platform. On the 19th, the number of Binance users surpassed 2 million, and then jumped to 5 million in less than a month.
On January 10, 2018, Binance's trading volume exceeded $10 billion. In February, CZ was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine. It took He Yi 6 months to achieve the boast she bragged about when she joined Binance.
Binance after He Yi joined was not all smooth sailing. Late at night on March 7, 2018, Binance was hacked, and many users found that the tokens they held in their accounts were traded for Bitcoin at the market price, causing the price of most coins to drop. After the panic selling, the hackers bought all the bitcoins held in the stolen account into a token called VIA, which caused the price of VIA to skyrocket 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% in an hour.
After the incident, Binance was scolded for "guarding himself and stealing and blaming hackers". He Yi stood up again, while clarifying to the media, and at the same time replying to everyone's questions one by one in the exchange group. "He Yi protects Binance like a calf. At least in Binance's external role-playing, she did a good job", this is what an industry media person commented on He Yi. In April, Hong Kong's High Court rejected Sequoia China's injunction against Binance, and the investment dispute between Binance and Sequoia China made the media again. He Yi came out again to ease the relationship, saying that it was "a clash between emerging industries and past financing models, as well as a clash between Chinese culture and Western culture."
He Yi 4 years ago was always full of golden sentences in media interviews. In response to the outside world's question that all the donations of Binance's listing fees are "left-handed to right-handed", He Yi said that "where to donate the listing fees is Binance's freedom". Regarding the definition of Binance ICO as illegal, she said that "CZ really didn't think specifically about China, which is a sign of our lack of Eastern wisdom". And, of course, there is the response to the red-shirt lawsuit. In 2018, Run Finance counted the Baidu search volume, media information volume, and fan volume of the founders of the crypto exchange at that time, and He Yi and Binance ranked first, and their exposure far exceeded that of other opponents. This is the influence of the first sister in the currency circle.
After the "94 Incident", under the regulatory pressure of various countries and the high degree of discrimination from the Western media, many domestic exchanges began to downplay their "Chinese elements" in order to continue their business. CZ's Chinese speaking videos are becoming more and more difficult to find, and Xu Xingxing is even more determined to "no longer have Mandarin". But He Yi's English is not good, and she also revealed in an interview with Bloomberg that her English proficiency is an important reason why she did not become the spokesperson of Binance.
With Binance's going overseas, He Yi gradually retreated behind the scenes, and CZ stepped into the front of the stage. Now, even outsiders know that CZ is the "richest man in the currency circle", but if you haven't been in the circle for a year and a half, you won't know how beautiful the first sister was back then.
However, today He Yi is still running around for Binance. Her passport is stamped with many national stamps, and there are fewer and fewer blank visa pages. He Yi describes his work as "home from all over the world", "When you are away from Chongqing noodles, crayfish and Jiugongge hot pot, you will still have longing, especially your stomach, and you will have a strong sense of homesickness". Is He Yi, who has retreated into the background, still valuable? This question has been answered by He Yi himself. In the interview, she revealed that people have been trying to poach her in the past, but most of them are only because of the name He Yi, not the value of He Yi. "In the past two years, my work has basically been behind the scenes, and I am the one who stands behind the layout and understands the value of He Yi as a partner. 」
Binance Partner
In May 2018, He Yi was asked in a media interview if Binance was considering issuing financial derivatives. At this time, the crypto market has just entered a bear market, and everyone does not have a clear understanding of the cycle of the industry, and the market sentiment is not too bad. Regarding the opening of contract products, He Yi's answer was "If you can just make money, it doesn't mean much to Binance".
He Yi made it clear that Binance has always been very cautious about financial products, and she also half-jokingly joked: "Futures leverage provides a mechanism for shorting. CZ and I are both very staunch coin holders, and we only have coins and no money. So in terms of providing a short-selling mechanism, there is a bit of selfishness, and we don't want the short-selling mechanism in this industry to be too easy."
But in 2019, Binance was really in a hurry.
In May, Binance, which has always been restrained in business, launched its futures and OTC products business at a breakneck pace. This year, Binance not only launched Binance.US to provide services to users in the United States instead of the main Binance website, but also announced that it would refocus on the Chinese market and increase the 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 the trading is cold and the frequency of user transactions is reduced, and the other is that the mainstream currency is more active and the altcoin is lower. For trading platforms, the most feared bear market in the currency circle is not a fall, but a sideways market with no end in sight. The retail leeks were immobile, and the project party either made a fortune and left, or lacked money to do "market value management", and a large area froze to death in the "cold winter", and the liquidity of the entire industry dried up. Without the money-making effect, the exchange has become unpopular.
The reason for entering the contract is also because it can amplify volatility and increase the frequency of transactions by a single user. With the successive opening of contract business by OK and Huobi, the "homogeneous competition" between the three major exchanges has been completely rolled out.
The short-handed business soon gave rise to a "war of words" between friends. In October, Xu Xingxing 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, lacking professional ethics and partnership spirit. At that time, CZ was already married, and He Yi quickly denied his relationship with CZ and fought back.
When asked how he sees the escalating friction with his peers, He Yi's answer is as tough as ever. She bluntly said that it was the peer competitors who "recruited Binance back", "Friends always hack Binance on the Internet and send us so many PR drafts, and they jump out to ridicule Binance whenever something happens. I thought, since they are looking forward to us so much, let's go back to China to do the market. If I don't come back to fight this battle, I can't get the record straight, wouldn't it seem that I have no temper. 」
2019！2019！
Looking back now, 2019 may have been a turning point in Binance's six-year history. During the year, Binance broke through the war of attrition on many exchanges and began to gradually distance itself from its peers.
Many believe that Binance's breakout in 2019 relied on an innovative IEO model. In January, Binance announced the relaunch of Launchpad, taking the lead in its IEO journey. The first project was Justin Sun's Bittorrent (BTT), which was sold out within 13 minutes of its launch. Looking at it now, there may not be much to say about the Bittorrent project, but at that point in time when there was no volatility and no hope, the impact of a project that went live 20 times was immeasurable on the market.
Binance has proven to be one of the most successful IEO players, not only earning enough eyeballs, but also attracting users from other platforms. Seeing Binance's breakthrough, Huobi and OK immediately joined the "IEO Club". In March, Huobi launched its first project, TOP, with three rounds of snap-ups taking only 19 seconds and opening at more than 20 times. Driven by the leading exchanges, domestic trading platforms of all sizes have entered the IEO trading market, to which CZ replied with confidence: "Other exchanges are welcome to copy. 」
But in fact, it is not only the new model of IEO that will lead Binance to break through, because by May and even the end of the year, the "Big Three" are still competing for the contract market. And CZ's confidence does not only come from the victory of IEOs, in 2019, Binance's efficiency and progress in all aspects can be described as "terrifying".
After launching an IEO wave in January, Binance went on to launch Binance Smart Chain (now BNB Chain) in February. In May, the first DeFi project on the chain, CRED, was launched, and Binance officially entered the derivatives market by opening margin and contract trading. In June, Binance Labs announced the incubation of 13 new projects. In July, Binance.us was founded. In September, Binance launched BUSD, wealth management products, and staking platforms. In December, the acquisition of JEX and the launch of Binance Cloud, as well as the landmark event - investment in FTX.
This is just a demonstration of some of Binance's workload and products in 2019, when the market is extremely cold, Binance has multiple business lines going hand in hand, trying every means to increase trading volume and let funds flow back. And behind each of Binance's business lines, there is almost a figure of He. This year, Binance's business progress was also gradually reflected in the company's profits.
Someone calculated Binance based on the value of fiat currency burned in BNB in Q3, and in the third quarter of 2019, even though trading in the crypto market was declining, Binance's profits continued to increase, even about $10 million more than in Q2. He Yi gave three reasons for this. One is that Binance had a coin theft incident last quarter, and the profit fell because it took on the loss. Second, some of the projects that Binance invested in in the early stage unlocked tokens in the third quarter and obtained a certain return on investment. The third is to do a lot of structural optimization in terms of cost.
He Yi once revealed that Binance's annual fees to third-party service companies are staggeringly large, "For example, in terms of cloud services, the money we pay to Amazon every year may really be second only to those world's top companies." In 2019, the team led by He Yi made great iterations on the solutions provided by the vendors, reducing costs by tens of millions of dollars per month.
These achievements are not groundless, and looking further back, He Yi and Binance have already begun to pave the way for their own breakthrough in 2018.
In an interview in October 2018, He Yi said, "The most powerful opponent is actually itself, and Binance also needs to defeat itself in order to evolve." At that time, the foundation and ecology of the blockchain industry were still immature, but Binance decided to try in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the industry, as well as in all directions.
At first, he only invested in some industries, but later He Yi found that he also needed to be a fund of funds to introduce the old money of traditional finance into the industry. Midstream has made Binance Smart Chain to provide incubation space for projects in a more crypto-native way. In a 2018 interview, Ella, then head of Binance Lab, revealed BSC's go-live plans. And, of course, Binance Info, philanthropy, and other downstream extensions in the industry.
In 2018, Binance also did one thing, and that was the acquisition of Trust Wallet.
This is Binance's first public acquisition of the business. He Yi recalls that when he found Trust Wallet, the team was already planning to issue coins, so the initial impression was not 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 shortly after, He Yi's assistant Eowync took over as the team's CEO. Today, Trust Wallet's market share on mobile has surpassed MetaMask, and the team still hasn't issued coins.
In fact, Binance has many sub-businesses, but almost none of them go to issue coins, and He Yi believes that these products have a very future. She herself said that focusing on value creation as a whole is the most important, "The image of the cryptocurrency 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 words, but He Yi has indeed achieved all the boasts of the past, and this sentence is no exception. Binance Labs under He Yi's leadership has indeed done a lot of "faith investment".
Yibo Ling, Binance's chief commercial officer, has said, "We buy and hold, and that's the strategy we've had for the past few years. With a few exceptions, none of us quit. The most powerful proof of this is Binance's uncashed LUNA and the amount of MATIC that can be checked on the chain. At the height of the panic in the market last year, Binance launched a $1 billion "Industry Recovery Fund" to support crypto projects and companies that were struggling. According to Binance's 2022 year-end review report, Binance Labs has invested more than $500 million in the Web3 space, making it one of the few institutions in the industry that continues to invest money.
In Binance, in addition to the dimension of product technology, other businesses will be involved to a greater or lesser extent. Someone asked what is Ho's position in the company, and she summed it up as "CZ helps the company find direction, and I help the company find better people". Some people think that He Yiguan is too much, and she responded succinctly, "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 what time of day, you can find her. In the eyes of users, He Yi is Binance's "chief customer service", the fastest response to messages, often active in various WeChat groups in the middle of the night, as long as Binance has an event, she will personally send red envelopes in the group for everyone to forward. In the eyes of passers-by, He Yi is Binance's "fire captain", who used to rush to the front line to fight with competing products, but now he is the first to appear on Binance's various FUD sites to refute rumors.
Someone once asked him about retirement, and her answer was decisive: "In 2017, I wrote that everyone thought that Binance's ICO was to raise money, but in fact, all you raised was debt, and your debt may be a debt for a lifetime. 」
Although everyone calls her "chief customer service", He Yi revealed that in Binance, she is responsible for everything related to users except customer service. From branding, PR, to content and design, and more. The second is user growth, such as user operation, event operation, etc. Even Binance's major customers, as well as the local markets of countries and regions around the world, are also in charge of He Yi.
In fact, when it comes to lying flat, there are few people in the currency circle who are more worthy of rest than He Yi. Not only in her experience, age, status and wealth, but also in the fact that she is already a mother of two children. In the circle of tens of billions of dollars, you can hardly see a second founder like He Yi, who insists on the front line every day, understanding user needs and solving user problems in various communities. She often says that she has only one job at Binance: working for BNB holders.
Of course, He Yi's job is not only a "part-time job", in the eyes of Binance people themselves, He Yi is also the "team architect" of this 8,000-person team. "If someone in your team is not performing well, it must be the manager's problem, or you have misjudged him from the beginning, and it is your ability to recruit. Otherwise, you don't put him in the right position, which is your management problem. 」
He Yi, who just joined Binance, is in charge of the entire marketing department, and in order to achieve zero-distance contact between the Binance brand and users, she gave a dead order to the department: everyone must be customer service. To this end, she personally trained the entire marketing department and answered all the questions raised by users in all of Binance's user groups. In the early days of Binance's business, employees often worked overtime until more than 1 o'clock, and He Yi would also work overtime until more than 1 o'clock.
Under the guidance of He Yi, the once unpromising "Binance Girl Group" has gradually become the independent existence of the Binance Chinese community. Sisi has changed from community and customer service to half of a product manager, facing the entire Chinese area to collect suggestions for Binance, 77 changed its name to Eva to work in VIP and institutions, and Brother Ying is waving the flag for Binance Square. He Yi is living up to his goal of finding young people with integrity, ability and enthusiasm to build a "long-lasting" system.
Even though BNB has risen from one dollar to more than $200 now, He Yi still feels that the responsibility on his body is heavy, "Users hold your coins because they believe in you, and the price has risen very well, and everyone is very happy." If you fall, you may not be very happy, and then you will feel that the responsibility on your shoulders will be heavier. 」
From this dimension, if someone can do better than He Yi in this position, she is willing to "abdicate and make way for Xian".
It can only be one of them
On June 18, 2017, Changpeng Zhao, who was starting a business, had a meal with He Yi, and she looked at the white paper and smiled, "They have a very strange Chinese name, like a supermarket owner." I said, why not call it Binance?"
After six years, Binance gave He Yi this evaluation on the official website:
"Binance's growth into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is inseparable from the business strategy built by He Yi's team, which has transformed Binance from a crypto trading platform to a global blockchain ecosystem. Being able to break through strong competitors and occupy more than 60% of the market share, its strategic vision and employment strategy are crucial for any enterprise. 」
At the Binance event, He Yiyi wore a black dress and calmly shared Binance's past and future, Twitter, WeChat groups, and Moments were full of selfies of participants and sisters. Just like the name she gave to the company, Binance, which is here, always makes people more reassuring.
When CZ retired, everyone was worried about Binance's future, and now, no one is more suitable for Binance than He Yi. She's the only one who responds to a customer's mediocre simple questions late at night, and she's the only one who comes out and hits back at FUD in times of turmoil. When asked how much she earns a year on Binance, she said, "It's all pocket money, I don't think much of it." Perhaps, as she herself wrote six years ago, He Yi "likes to take a group of people to attack the city and strategy, likes the moment of toasting each other with victory, and likes to watch his subordinates grow up and take charge of themselves", these are the things that can make He Yi feel happy.
"It's pretty good-looking. This is the first impression many people have of Ho Yi, but they don't know the tremendous energy that this woman contains. Six years later, the future of Binance still needs Ho.