{"id":80938,"date":"2023-06-29T11:29:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T08:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=80938"},"modified":"2025-09-11T19:59:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T16:59:03","slug":"binance-co-founder-yi-he-rejects-comparison-with-caroline-ellison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/binance-co-founder-yi-he-rejects-comparison-with-caroline-ellison\/","title":{"rendered":"Binance co-founder Yi He rejects comparison with Caroline Ellison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Binance co-founder Yi He, in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2023-06-28\/binance-co-founder-yi-he-on-crypto-regulation-and-changpeng-cz-zhao\">Bloomberg<\/a>, rejected any parallels between her relationship with the exchange&#8217;s CEO Changpeng Zhao and the romantic relationship of former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried with his colleague Caroline Ellison.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;There is a fundamental difference: Caroline was an employee, and I am a partner. The relationships between co-founders require much more than dating relationships. The former are based on partnership, shared beliefs and go beyond gender boundaries; the latter are about chemistry, physical attraction and selfish desires,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/bPW4MVzAhI_ihplw6a7lRa1PCQcYZmqT5wrA49PCm3YlkFDzp759ANuFD-m3hED2YBkFP_YPScnh8UMn6N0C6wUpHJFS3tDAkj6is2zAzTtugdq0KxBXORJFZYOWLLvzWu9DDP30WQ_V8rdPfIJU9no\" alt=\"Binance co-founder Yi He rejects comparison with Caroline Ellison\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Data: Bloomberg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Yi He and Zhao are business partners; they have children together and live in the same <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/changpeng-zhao-buys-property-in-dubai-as-media-hint-at-binance-opening-office-in-the-emirate\">home in Dubai<\/a>. However, she called him a \u201ccomrade-in-arms\u201d and something like a dorm roommate. Yi He drew a parallel with Amazon when Jeff Bezos&#8217;s ex-wife MacKenzie Scott participated in the company&#8217;s early years. However, she herself admitted that the comparison was not very apt \u2014 the former wife of the Amazon founder was not as actively involved in the business.<\/p>\n<p>Yi He and Zhao have known each other for at least since 2014, when she hired him as chief technology officer at OKCoin and brought him into the crypto-exchange sphere. In 2017, Yi He, as a consultant, helped draft the white paper for Binance&#8217;s $15 million ICO and later joined the company.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike most of the co-founders, Yi He was not technically with the project in its early stages. But her prominence in China&#8217;s crypto industry helped the exchange quickly achieve success, Bloomberg sources say.<\/p>\n<p>The co-founder oversees Binance Labs, a multi-billion-dollar venture fund that has backed more than 200 projects, including the BitTorrent P2P file-sharing platform and the blockchain game <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-axie-infinity-axs\">Axie Infinity<\/a>. She is credited with helping develop the BNB Chain network. She helps oversee institutional-client business and acquisitions like CoinMarketCap. Yi He also leads the platform&#8217;s listing team.<\/p>\n<p>On June 5, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/sec-files-suit-against-binance-and-changpeng-zhao\">filed a lawsuit against Binance<\/a> and Changpeng Zhao. The regulator brought 13 charges, including selling unregistered securities. The investigation into the company is also <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/disagreements-within-the-u-s-justice-department-over-charges-against-binance-leadership\">being led by the country\u2019s Department of Justice<\/a>. Regulators in several other jurisdictions have also brought charges against the exchange.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;We respect regulators&#8217; positions, regardless of whether they support the development of cryptocurrencies or oppose it. I understand that the overall aim of their work is good for protecting investors,&#8221; Yi He commented.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>She acknowledged the possibility of Binance losing the proceedings and Zhao&#8217;s possible departure from the company. She said that backup top executives are being prepared for this scenario, the names of whom the entrepreneur did not disclose.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;I think everything will be fine. We are not a single point of failure,&#8221; Yi He stressed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As noted, journalists identified <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/media-spot-parallels-between-the-secs-case-against-binance-and-the-ftx-saga\">parallels to the FTX case<\/a> in the SEC&#8217;s suit against Binance and its subsidiary Alameda Research.<\/p>\n<p>The former head of the latter Caroline Ellison pleaded guilty in December <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/caroline-ellison-admits-deliberate-misrepresentation-to-alameda-creditors-about-the-exchanges-loan-amount\">to conspiring to defraud investors<\/a>. Sam Bankman-Fried has been charged with <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/sam-bankman-fried-accused-of-bribing-a-chinese-official\">13 criminal counts<\/a>. In May, his lawyers <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/sam-bankman-fried-seeks-dismissal-of-part-of-the-charges\">filed<\/a> a motion with the court to dismiss most of the counts, but it was <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/judge-denies-motion-to-dismiss-most-charges-against-sbf\">denied<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yi He, Binance co-founder, told Bloomberg she rejects any parallels between her relationship with the exchange\u2019s CEO Changpeng Zhao and the romantic involvement of former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried with Caroline Ellison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[744,935],"class_list":["post-80938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-binance","tag-changpeng-zhao"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"47","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80940,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80938\/revisions\/80940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}