Binance Co-Founder Yi He has been named the most innovative Web3 founder for her contributions in web3 space by CoinGape Web3 Innovation Awards 2026.
The winners of the CoinGape Web3 Innovation Awards 2026 were picked by an independent judging panel, which includes Polygon Labs, Beldex, Liminal, Visa, INPUT, Luna PR, and SharpLink. The awards celebrate founders, companies, products and technologies that define the future of Web3.
Yi He Receives Most Innovative Web3 Founder Award
Yi He was chosen as the Co-CEO of Binance by CEO Richcard Teng in December 2025, due to her expertise in building Binance and her impact on the overall blockchain industry.
In 2014, she found Changpeng Zhao and they went on to launch Binance in 2017, which is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
Yi He has been an advocate of a user-first approach throughout Binance’s development. She believes that, new hires, no matter their role, must spend time on customer support, so that teams are aware of their needs before being assigned more duties.
Her leadership has additionally been instrumental in Binance’s growth. The company returned to the Philippines earlier this month when regulators granted the company permission to start testing under the Philippine Strategic Regulatory Sandbox.
Binance has recently achieved $1 billion in assets under management for its Stocks offering, highlighting the increasing demand for global equities on the platform.
Supporting Innovation Beyond Binance
Yi He keeps on helping to promote innovation beyond Binance.
In addition to the exchange, Yi He is also the CEO of YZi Labs, the investment firm that replaced Binance Labs after the firm re-branded in January 2025.
YZi Labs has over $10 billion in assets and over 300 companies in its portfolio, according to company data. The company supports the growth of new technologies through financial and technical support.
Yi He was on the list of the top 100 most powerful women earlier this year, and is the first crypto-native executive to be included.
This new award by the CoinGape further solidifies her status as one of most influential web3 founders.