A long time ago, when people talked about cryptocurrency, they thought of it as just a concept, like passing the buck.
But do you really understand the concept of cryptocurrency? Have you seriously studied its past and present? Have you learned about the Binance platform and #BNB #币安人生 ?
Without understanding, there is no right to speak. Take a good look at the past experiences of people like CZ and He Yi!
In 2017, the cryptocurrency market was still in its infancy, and the exchange sector was already filled with competition. After leaving OKCoin, Zhao Changpeng (CZ), with deep insights into the industry and a technical obsession, decided to create a truly user-centric trading platform. In the late-night chat room of the cryptocurrency community 'Bubble', he frequently interacted with a group of like-minded tech enthusiasts. The scrolling code snippets and trading ideas on the screen gradually outlined the prototype of Binance. It was during these all-night online discussions that CZ met He Yi— a media person who had worked for CCTV and Yixia Technology. With a keen sense of market trends, He quickly became a core member of the team. The early team squeezed into an office in Hong Kong that was less than 100 square meters, with a few folding tables pieced together as temporary workstations. The buzzing of servers and the sound of keyboards intertwined to create the prelude to entrepreneurship. The tight funding forced them to be frugal, even purchasing mostly second-hand office equipment, but the sparkle in the eyes of team members illuminated the grand dreams within this humble space. Every request and complaint raised by users in the 'Bubble' group was personally recorded by CZ in his notebook. These warm feedbacks later transformed into the original driving force for Binance's product iterations.
1. Expansion Phase: Financing, Speaking, and User Accumulation
Binance's path of expansion began with a 'lightning war'. In the summer of 2017, CZ, with an unformed white paper, traveled through cafes and hotel conference rooms in Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore, explaining the innovative model of 'crypto-to-crypto trading' to potential investors. At that time, most exchanges still relied on fiat trading pairs, while Binance took the lead in focusing on direct exchanges between cryptocurrencies. This differentiated strategy quickly attracted the attention of esteemed capital, such as Node Capital, ultimately pressing the start button for expansion with $5 million in angel funding. Meanwhile, He Yi began to actively participate on the global blockchain summit stage as 'Binance's sister', from technical forums in Seoul to industry exhibitions in San Francisco, she used her professional and engaging speeches to instill the concepts of 'Binance speed' and 'user first' into every listener's mind. This 'financing + roadshow' dual-driven model allowed Binance to achieve over a million users and rank among the top three in trading volume within just 180 days of launching.
Time Node
Key Events
Phase Results
July 2017
Completed a $5 million angel round of financing
Core team formation completed, initial technical architecture established
September 1, 2017
Binance Exchange officially launched
The first-day trading volume exceeded 1000 BTC, with users reaching over 100,000
November 2017
Launched the 'Global Blockchain Campus Tour' event
Covered 12 countries and 30 universities, implementing the brand youth strategy
January 2018
Launched the Binance Launchpad token issuance platform
The first project BTT raised funds in 15 minutes, opening the curtain on the platform token ecology
March 2018
Announced the establishment of a $1 billion blockchain fund
Investment landscape expanded to wallets, media, mining pools, and other upstream and downstream fields
Compared to contemporaneous competitors, Binance's expansion strategy is more flexible. Established exchanges like Huobi and OKEx rely on existing users and localized operations, while Binance adopts a 'light asset + globalization' approach, deploying servers at decentralized nodes to avoid regulatory risks in a single region; it also launched a multilingual version of the app, supporting trading of over 140 cryptocurrencies. This 'wide net' user coverage has allowed it to seize opportunities in emerging markets.
2. Maturity phase: From 'ignored' to 'ambitious breakthrough'
In January 2018, Binance topped the global exchange rankings for the first time with a trading volume of $3 billion within 24 hours, which was equivalent to the total trading volume of Coinbase and Kraken at that time. Behind this milestone event was its precise solution to industry pain points: the pioneering 'crypto-to-crypto trading' model lowered the entry barrier for users, while the 'coin listing voting' mechanism allowed the community to participate in platform development decisions, creating a stark contrast with the closed operations of traditional financial institutions. Data shows that in 2019, Binance's user base surpassed 10 million, covering more than 180 countries and regions, and the platform token BNB rose from an initial issuance price of $0.1 to a peak of $600, an increase of over 6000 times, building a complete ecological map that includes spot trading, derivatives, DeFi, and NFTs.
Binance's core competitiveness lies in its 'rapid iteration' survival philosophy. With increasing global regulatory strictness in 2019, Binance quickly launched its compliance sub-brand Binance.US while acquiring a local license through the Japanese exchange Coincheck; in response to the DeFi wave, it launched the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) in 2020, attracting developers with low Gas fees and high compatibility, successfully incubating leading projects like PancakeSwap within a year, with a peak TVL (Total Value Locked) exceeding $30 billion. This dual advantage of 'regulatory adaptability + ecological extensibility' has kept it at the forefront of industry cycles. As of 2023, the Binance ecosystem now encompasses 12 major business sectors including trading, wallets, public chains, and education, becoming a veritable 'aircraft carrier' in the digital currency field, with its development trajectory demonstrating the transformation from 'technical concepts in bubble chat rooms' to 'global financial infrastructure'.
1. CZ and He Yi: The soul figures of the Binance founding team
1. CZ: From tech geek to industry leader
Zhao Changpeng (CZ)'s career began in the fintech sector in Montreal. In his early years, he developed high-frequency trading systems at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which deeply informed his understanding of the efficiency bottlenecks in traditional financial markets. After joining Bloomberg in 2005, the trading software he designed was widely adopted by Wall Street investment banks, and his technical accumulation in distributed systems and low-latency trading laid the groundwork for his later foray into the blockchain industry. In 2013, a chance encounter with Bitcoin completely altered his career trajectory, as he sold his Shanghai property and invested all his funds into cryptocurrency—this 'all in' boldness became a hallmark of his entrepreneurial journey.
Before founding Binance in 2017, CZ had already immersed himself in the crypto industry for four years. He served as the technical director of OKCoin and the founder of Bijie Tech, the former giving him insight into the core logic of exchange operations and the latter allowing him to gain team management experience. His tech geek background led him to establish a 'technology-driven' strategic direction for Binance from the outset: the self-developed matching engine can process 1.4 million orders per second, far exceeding contemporaneous competitors; the pioneering multi-layer architecture design ensures system stability even during peak traffic. This relentless pursuit of technical detail has become the cornerstone of Binance's rapid rise.
As an industry leader, CZ's strategic vision is reflected in his precise judgment of trends. In 2018, he decisively launched the platform token BNB, creating a 'transaction is mining' model, evolving BNB from a mere transaction fee discount tool into an ecological token; in 2020, he laid out the decentralized exchange (DEX), building a second growth curve in anticipation of regulatory pressures on centralized platforms. His influence in the industry is manifested through the 'CZ effect'—his personal Twitter account has over 7 million followers, and each tweet can cause price fluctuations in related tokens; in 2021, he was named one of Time magazine's '100 Most Influential People in the World', becoming a representative face of the crypto industry.
2. He Yi: A Key Role in Brand Building and User Connection
He Yi injected a brand warmth that penetrates technical barriers into Binance. Before joining Binance, she had already built her reputation in the industry with the label of 'Bitcoin Goddess', and her media experience allowed her to understand the nuances of public communication. In brand promotion, she creatively transformed fintech topics into language accessible to the public: at the 2018 Davos Forum, she likened blockchain to the internet of yesteryear, a comparison that quickly made headlines in mainstream financial media; targeting the younger user demographic, she spearheaded the 'Binance Campus Tour' event, using esports competitions and blockchain sandbox games to make technical concepts tangible.
Community operation is another battlefield for He Yi. She established the 'Binance Goddess Brigade' global volunteer network, developing localized community leaders in 180 countries to ensure user feedback is responded to within 24 hours. During the 'hacker attack' incident in 2019, she personally livestreamed the process of checking fund security in the Telegram group, alleviating user panic through transparent communication, and subsequently, the platform's user retention rate increased by 15%. This 'turning crisis into opportunity' wisdom stems from her precise understanding of community psychology—users need not only trading tools but also trustworthy partnerships.
The brand perception of Binance before and after He Yi's joining shows a stark contrast. In the early days of its launch in 2017, Binance was merely seen as an ordinary exchange among many; however, after He Yi led the brand upgrade in 2018, through the 'Binance Red' visual system and the catchy slogan 'Binance, where the crypto world is safe', along with her deep binding of personal IP with the platform brand, Binance's brand search volume increased by 300% within six months. Third-party research shows that in 2019, among global cryptocurrency users, 72% considered 'Binance' to be the most user-friendly exchange brand, significantly surpassing the industry average.
3. Collaboration of two: The 'golden partner' model of the entrepreneurial team
· Strategic complementarity: CZ focuses on technical architecture and long-term ecological layout, while He Yi is responsible for market landing and user perception, forming a closed loop of 'technical foundation - brand expansion'. For example, during the launch of Binance Smart Chain (BSC) in 2020, CZ led the technical team to tackle cross-chain compatibility challenges, while He Yi simultaneously initiated a 'developer incentive program' to attract global developers through online hackathons, allowing BSC to achieve ecological cold start within three months.
· Decision-making division: Major technical choices and compliance strategies are decided by CZ, while branding and community operations are fully entrusted to He Yi. In 2018, facing regulatory pressures from multiple countries, CZ led the establishment of a 'decentralized operation' strategy, distributing servers to global nodes; He Yi, meanwhile, led the team to complete compliance documentation in 11 languages within a week, ensuring users understood the logic behind platform adjustments.
· Crisis coordination: The FTX collapse in 2022 triggered a trust crisis in the industry, and the two initiated a 'dual-track response' mechanism: CZ stabilized market confidence through social media, announcing that Binance would provide a $2 billion industry recovery fund; He Yi led the establishment of the 'User Assets Transparency Committee', publicly disclosing proof of platform reserves in real-time. This combination of 'technical assurance + emotional comfort' led to a net increase of 2 million users for Binance during the crisis.
· Cultural co-construction: The 'rapid iteration like an internet company' advocated by CZ and the 'user first' concept promoted by He Yi deeply integrate, forming Binance's unique 'agile + warm' culture. Team morning meetings adopt a dual-theme model of 'technical briefing + user voice', ensuring that product iteration always revolves around real needs. This collaborative model has become an organizational guarantee for Binance's industry leadership.
2. Insights from the Binance Model: Entrepreneurial Spirit and Industry Impact
1. The success factors of Binance: perseverance, innovation, and user orientation
Binance's rise is not coincidental; its success is rooted in a precise understanding of industry trends. In 2017, when most exchanges were mired in the stock competition of fiat trading pairs, Binance keenly captured the blue ocean of trading demand between cryptocurrencies, being the first to launch the 'crypto-to-crypto trading' model. This decision allowed it to avoid the regulatory limitations of fiat channels and quickly penetrate the global market. This trend insight has continued to manifest in subsequent developments: in 2019, it laid out derivative trading; in 2020, it focused on the DeFi ecology; in 2021, it explored the NFT field, with each strategic adjustment aligning with industry cycle nodes.
Rapid iteration capability constitutes Binance's core barrier. Unlike the lengthy product update processes of traditional financial institutions, Binance established a '72-hour response mechanism'—technical teams must provide prototype solutions within 72 hours for user-requested features. In 2018, in response to user feedback regarding 'trading delays', the Binance tech team optimized the matching engine for 48 consecutive hours, increasing system throughput from 100,000 transactions per second to 1.4 million transactions per second. This 'speed-driven' technological iteration has left competitors struggling to catch up.
User-oriented operational philosophy runs through Binance's development. In its early phase, it used the 'Bubble' community to collect user needs, later introduced 'coin listing voting' to allow the community to decide on new coin listings, and subsequently established the 'Binance Lab' to incubate user co-created projects, forming a complete user participation loop. Data shows that 80% of Binance's product features stem from direct user feedback. This 'user demand-driven product' model allows it to maintain a differentiated advantage in homogeneous competition. Unlike traditional financial institutions' one-way service logic of 'I provide what users use', Binance's interactive operation of 'I create what users need' aligns better with the expectations of users in the digital age.
2. The driving force for the digital currency industry
Binance has made significant contributions to the standardization of the industry. In 2018, it took the lead in formulating the (cryptocurrency exchange industry standards), which clearly defined the operational norms for asset custody, KYC (Know Your Customer), and anti-money laundering (AML), and this standard has been adopted by over 30 exchanges worldwide. Its 'cold wallet + hot wallet' layered storage solution has raised the asset safety coefficient to 99.99%, becoming a universal paradigm for asset protection in the industry. During the compliance process, Binance established dialogue mechanisms with regulatory agencies in regions such as Japan, the EU, and the United States through a 'global compliance + local operation' model, promoting multiple countries to include cryptocurrency trading in regulatory sandboxes, creating legal development space for the industry.
In terms of ecological construction, Binance has built a full-chain ecosystem covering 'trading-investment-application'. Through Launchpad, it has assisted blockchain projects in fundraising, having incubated over 150 projects by 2023 with total fundraising exceeding $5 billion; Binance Smart Chain (BSC) provides developers with a low-barrier development environment, attracting over 1000 DApps to settle in, forming an ecological system that stands shoulder to shoulder with Ethereum. This 'platform + ecosystem' dual-driven model not only enhances overall industry vitality but also promotes the evolution of digital currency from a trading tool to an application carrier.
Pioneering initiatives
Launch Time
Industry Influence
Crypto-to-Crypto Trading Model
September 2017
Promote the exchange's shift from reliance on fiat to direct exchanges between cryptocurrencies
Platform Token Economic Model
October 2017
Initiated the 'transaction is mining' model, increasing the platform token market value ratio to 15%
Decentralized Exchange (DEX)
April 2019
Leading the trend of collaborative development between centralized and decentralized trading
Blockchain Charity Foundation
May 2021
Promote the large-scale application of cryptocurrencies in the public welfare sector
Industry recovery fund
November 2022
Provide financial support to projects that faced liquidity crises after the FTX collapse
For small and medium exchanges, Binance's rise is both a challenge and a reference. On one hand, its expansion model of 'low pricing strategy + ecological subsidies' has squeezed the survival space of smaller platforms, with the number of global exchanges decreasing by 40% from 2018 to 2022; on the other hand, Binance's technical architecture and operational experience have become industry benchmarks, with over 60% of emerging exchanges adopting 'Binance-related' technical solutions, forming an industry pattern of 'leading giants followed by small and medium players'.
3. Insights for Entrepreneurs: The Difficulties and Persistence of Entrepreneurship Seen Through Binance's Journey
Precise positioning is the primary prerequisite for entrepreneurial success. In the early days of Binance, it avoided direct competition with Huobi and OKEx, choosing the niche market of 'crypto-to-crypto trading' and opening up the market with a differentiated strategy. This enlightens entrepreneurs: in a red ocean market, rather than fighting for market share, it’s better to establish a competitive advantage through deep cultivation in vertical fields. As CZ said: 'Entrepreneurship is not about chasing trends, but finding corners that have not yet been covered by trends.'
Flexibly responding to regulatory environments is a compulsory course for global entrepreneurship. After China banned cryptocurrency trading in 2017, Binance migrated its servers overseas within 48 hours, maintaining operations through distributed offices; in 2021, in response to an SEC investigation in the US, it proactively divested its US business to establish Binance.US. This 'regulatory adaptability' reminds entrepreneurs: compliance is not a matter of choice, but of survival, necessitating the establishment of a response mechanism involving 'policy early warning - rapid response - localized adjustment'.
Team cohesion is the core support for navigating through cycles. When Binance faced risks of a funding chain break during its startup phase, core members voluntarily reduced their salaries by 50% to fill the operational gap with personal savings; during the industry's winter in 2022, CZ led the cancellation of executive bonuses to weather the difficulties with employees. This underscores the importance of 'value resonance' within the entrepreneurial team—what binds hearts more than equity is the shared vision and responsibility in crisis.
The ability to continuously learn determines the lifecycle of a business. CZ transitioned from traditional finance to blockchain, and He Yi transformed from media to blockchain evangelist, with core team members maintaining a habit of reading 10 industry reports every month. This 'cognitive iteration speed' enlightens entrepreneurs: in an era of accelerated technological change, a company's core competitiveness is not existing resources, but the ability to continuously learn and translate knowledge into action. As a saying within Binance goes: 'In the blockchain industry, not evolving is dying.'
Only by understanding their past with sincerity can you know why I believe in it!
