“Heina” Chen – Is This Woman Pulling the Strings at Binance?
2 min readTreasurer of Binance, CZ’s close confidant and long: a well-kept secret. In the lawsuit brought by the US financial regulator SEC against the crypto exchange Binance, one name keeps appearing in key places: Guangying “Heina” Chen. Her identity – a mystery. It’s slowly beginning to reveal itself. And raises many uncomfortable questions for Binance.
Guangying “Heina” Chen is said to be responsible for the company’s finances in the background – all bank accounts. That goes from the lawsuit and one investigative research by “Forbes” out. Some observers even go so far as to speculate that Chen is something like the secret shadow empress of Binance. And in truth: a representative of the Communist Party. “Chen is the gateway to the Binance treasury,” an anonymous Binance executive told Forbes, “Heina had all the controls.”
On the outside, Changpeng Zhao, also called “CZ”, is the face of the largest crypto exchange in the world. But when Binance was founded in Shanghai in 2017, the company was registered under Chen’s name. She held 80 percent of the shares at the time. CZ did not admit that it existed at all until September 2022 when asked by a reporter in a blog post. There he writes: “Guangying currently oversees the administration and clearing team of the organization. She is not the owner of Binance, nor is she a secret agent of the Chinese government.” The reason for the secrecy: “The tabloids are digging up these old conspiracy theories, triggering another round of harassment for them and their loved ones.”
“Heina” Chen reportedly enriched himself and CZ
Little is known about the life of Guangying “Heina” Chen before Binance. Europe, the United Arab Emirates or even China: Even their whereabouts have not been finally clarified. On her LinkedIn, she calls herself the “co-founder of the company,” listing a number of jobs. But Binance does not mention them by name.
According to the SEC lawsuit, Guangying “Heina” Chen oversees a cluster of Binance companies. It has processed $148 billion in deposits and withdrawals since 2019. She is said to have paid out at least $32 million to herself. Chen also oversaw purchases for CZ, including $55 million for a private jet and $11 million for a yacht, according to the SEC.
“Everything goes through her,” claims one of the insiders to Forbes. “When it came to wire transfers or confirmation letters, whatever, you needed her: she’s the authorized person for all bank accounts.”
