ABU DHABI, UAE, May 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Yi He, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Binance, has been named to Fortune's annual Most Powerful Women in Business list in 2026, becoming the first crypto-native executive to appear on the global ranking. The recognition places her among 100 of the world's most influential women in business leaders and marks a milestone for the digital asset industry as it becomes more deeply integrated into the global economy.
Fortune's Most Powerful Women list is one of the most established and closely watched rankings in global business. It has traditionally featured leaders from major multinational corporations and long-standing institutions. Yi's debut on the list this year reflects both the growing influence of crypto and Binance's role in shaping the future of finance and technology.
Yi has shaped Binance from the start. She co-founded the company in 2017 and has been central to its product vision, culture, and user-first approach ever since. In December 2025, she was appointed Co-CEO alongside Richard Teng, creating a dual-leadership structure that pairs her strategic and product expertise with his regulatory and operational leadership. Together, they guide Binance's global strategy as the company enters its next phase of growth.
"Being named to Fortune's Most Powerful Women list feels meaningful — not just for me, but for crypto as a whole," said Yi He. "A few years ago, a founder from this industry showing up on a list like this would have been unusual. Today, it reflects how far we've come: from the edge of finance toward the center of how the world actually works."
Yi's path to this recognition is far from conventional. She grew up in a rural village in Sichuan without running water or electricity. At sixteen, she worked in a supermarket. She later became a television host, entered the tech industry, and taught herself English in her thirties before co-founding Binance. Within the crypto community, she is affectionately known as Binance's 'chief customer service officer.' It is a reflection of the user-first philosophy that has defined her leadership.
This latest recognition also reflects the scale of the platform she helped build. Binance today serves more than 310 million registered users globally and remains the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and digital asset infrastructure provider. In 2025 alone, the platform processed $34 trillion in trading volume, bringing its cumulative all-time volume to $145 trillion by the end of 2025. The company is also expanding beyond crypto into a broader range of asset classes and financial services, consistent with its vision of building a financial super app for the digital economy.
"I'm honored by this recognition, and it only deepens my commitment to the 310 million people who place their trust in Binance every day — including a son in Nairobi sending wages home to his mother, and a woman in a small Indian city opening her first account at fifty. Finance has never been equally kind to everyone, and that trust is something we have to earn every day. I have never thought of my role as simply running a company. I think about how we serve the people the old system left behind — many of them women, many of them in places the world doesn't always look at first."
"Three hundred and ten million is a number we're grateful for. It's also a small fraction of the people this industry was built to serve. We're working toward three billion — roughly everyone still outside the formal financial system today. A future where money moves as freely as information, where people, software, and AI agents share the same open economy, where no one needs permission to take part. That vision is what keeps me going. In many ways, it still feels like day one."
Yi's inclusion on Fortune's list signals a broader shift in global business. Crypto is no longer seen only as an emerging sector. It is increasingly recognized as a force shaping finance, technology, and economic participation worldwide. Her recognition also expands the picture of what leadership can look like, creating greater visibility for women and founders from non-traditional backgrounds.
"In its 29th year, this iconic list of powerful women includes almost half from outside of the U.S., reminding us that the impact of women leadership is being seen globally," said Alyson Shontell, Fortune Editor in Chief and Chief Content Officer in its official list reveal release. "These are women transforming business today and preparing for a future during a time of tumult and uncertainty, but also great promise."
About Binance
Binance is a leading global blockchain ecosystem behind the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and registered users. Binance is trusted by more than 310 million people in 100+ countries for its industry-leading security, transparency, trading engine speed, protections for investors, and unmatched portfolio of digital asset products and offerings from trading and finance to education, research, social good, payments, institutional services, and Web3 features. Binance is devoted to building an inclusive crypto ecosystem to increase the freedom of money and financial access for people around the world with crypto as the fundamental means. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com
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SPD-Chef und Bundesfinanzminister Lars Klingbeil erhöht den Druck bei der geplanten Reform der Einkommenssteuer. In den kommenden Wochen will er sein Konzept vorlegen, an dem nach seinen Worten "mit Hochdruck" gearbeitet wird. Ziel ist eine signifikante finanzielle Besserstellung für Haushalte mit geringen und mittleren Einkommen. "Diejenigen, die jeden Tag den Laden am Laufen halten, müssen am Ende mehr in der Tasche haben", sagte Klingbeil der Süddeutschen Zeitung.
Die Koalitionspartner SPD und Union haben sich darauf verständigt, eine umfassende Änderung der Einkommensteuer zum 1. Januar 2027 in Kraft zu setzen. Nach bisherigen Aussagen Klingbeils sollen bis zu 95 Prozent der Arbeitnehmer entlastet werden – "merklich, mit einigen hundert Euro im Jahr". Für viele Beschäftigte, etwa in Ballungsräumen wie Köln, könnte das eine spürbare Verbesserung der finanziellen Spielräume bedeuten. Über die konkrete Ausgestaltung der Tarife ist bislang jedoch nichts entschieden.
Strittig ist vor allem die Gegenfinanzierung der Reform, deren Volumen auf einen Milliardenbetrag geschätzt wird. Klingbeil stellt klar, dass aus seiner Sicht Spitzenverdiener mit sechsstelligen Gehältern stärker herangezogen werden sollen: "Spitzenverdiener mit sechsstelligen Gehältern müssen hierzu ihren Beitrag leisten." Die Sozialdemokraten favorisieren grundsätzlich eine stärkere Besteuerung hoher Einkommen sowie von Erbschaften, um die Entlastung der unteren und mittleren Einkommensgruppen zu ermöglichen.
Aus der Union kommt Widerstand gegen diesen Umverteilungskurs. Kritiker dort verlangen, ein wesentlicher Teil der Finanzierung müsse über Einsparungen im Bundeshaushalt erfolgen. Der CDU-Abgeordnete Mathias Middelberg sieht insbesondere bei Finanzhilfen des Bundes für Länder und Gemeinden Spielraum. Diese Zuweisungen seien in den vergangenen sieben Jahren von rund acht auf fast 60 Milliarden Euro angestiegen. Die unterschiedlichen Vorstellungen über Steuererhöhungen für Topverdiener einerseits und Ausgabenkürzungen andererseits markieren die zentrale Konfliktlinie, bevor Klingbeil sein Reformkonzept offiziell vorlegt.
