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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Die Schweizer Stimmberechtigten haben einer Verschärfung des Zivildienstgesetzes zugestimmt. Laut definitiven Ergebnissen votierten 52,5 Prozent für die Reform, rund 47,5 Prozent dagegen. Damit setzte sich der Kurs von Bundesrat und Parlament durch, den Zivildienst wieder klar als Ausnahme und nicht als gleichwertige Alternative zum obligatorischen Militärdienst zu definieren. Die Stimmbeteiligung lag mit rund 58 Prozent vergleichsweise hoch; 1'690'343 Personen legten ein Ja in die Urne, 1'531'878 stimmten Nein.
Das Ergebnis offenbart deutliche regionale Bruchlinien. Während viele deutschsprachige Kantone die Reform klar unterstützten – etwa Aargau mit 56,2 Prozent, St. Gallen mit 58,9 Prozent, Graubünden mit 59,3 Prozent und Luzern mit 56,9 Prozent Ja – fiel das Verdikt in der Romandie gespalten aus. Genf, Waadt, Neuenburg und Jura lehnten die Vorlage ab, mit Nein-Anteilen von bis zu gut 60 Prozent im Jura. Basel-Stadt stellte sich ebenfalls gegen die Verschärfung, und der Kanton Zürich kippte nach Auszählung der städtischen Stimmen knapp ins Nein-Lager. Demgegenüber sagten Wallis (57,1 Prozent), Freiburg (50,2 Prozent) und das Tessin (53,9 Prozent) Ja zur Reform.
Kern der Vorlage ist ein Paket von sechs Massnahmen, die den Wechsel aus der Armee in den Zivildienst deutlich unattraktiver machen sollen. Künftig müssen alle, die in den Zivildienst wechseln, mindestens 150 Diensttage leisten – unabhängig davon, wie viele Tage im Militär noch offen wären. Für Unteroffiziere und Offiziere gilt damit neu derselbe Umrechnungsfaktor von 1,5 Zivildiensttagen pro verbleibendem Militärdiensttag wie für einfache Soldaten. Wer alle Armee-Ausbildungstage bereits absolviert hat, kann künftig nicht mehr in den Zivildienst wechseln, um der Schiesspflicht zu entgehen.
Zusätzlich werden der zeitliche Rahmen und die Einsatzmöglichkeiten enger gezogen. Zivildienstleistende müssen ab dem Jahr nach ihrem ersten Einsatz jährlich Dienst leisten, bis alle vorgeschriebenen Tage erfüllt sind. Wer vor oder während der Rekrutenschule ein Gesuch stellt, muss den langen Anfangseinsatz von 180 Tagen bereits im Jahr nach der Zulassung absolvieren. Einsätze, die ein begonnenes Medizinstudium voraussetzen, werden gestrichen – offiziell, weil der Armee medizinisches Personal fehlt. Bürgerliche Parteien werteten das Ja als Bestätigung, dass der Zivildienst eine Ausnahme bleiben solle; die links-grüne Nein-Allianz verweist angesichts des knappen Resultats auf die breite gesellschaftliche Unterstützung für den Zivildienst und kündigt an, weitere Verschärfungen bekämpfen zu wollen.
