From Supermarket Salesgirl to Crypto Empire Leader: How Did He Yi Rewrite Her Life with $9.9?
When 16-year-old He Yi clutched her $9.9 daily wage in a supermarket in a small city in Sichuan, no one could have imagined that this hoarse-voiced salesgirl would, twenty years later, helm the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Her life script is more dramatic than any business war drama: from a rural orphan eating at others' tables to a $10 billion queen negotiating clemency with Trump, how did this Chinese woman build her digital kingdom amidst the storm of regulation?
I. The Awakening of Capital Behind a $9.9 Commission: When Survival Instinct Meets Bitcoin Frenzy
In 1995, in a supermarket aisle, He Yi, with her ponytail, was hoarsely promoting drinks, earning enough commission to buy half a bun per bottle. This experience gave her insight into human nature: people always pay for sensory stimulation. When Bitcoin broke $1,000 in 2013, she decisively shredded her therapist qualification certificate—just as she had resolutely thrown away her sales badge years earlier. From OKCoin's "uniformed customer service" marketing (bringing in over 100,000 users in a single day) to inventing Binance's Launchpad for initial token offerings, the survival wisdom gained from her foundational experiences burst forth with astonishing energy in the crypto world.