Zhao Changpeng, the CEO of Binance exchange, saw the possibilities with crypto earlier than most. His prolific rise to the top through his entrepreneurial qualities had very humble beginnings.
Known as CZ in crypto circles, Zhao Changpeng was born in China in the Jiangsu province. His father was exiled during the Chinese cultural revolution when CZ was only twelve years old.
The family moved to Vancouver, Canada, and initially times were not easy. CZ said that he did lots of odd jobs in order to provide for his family, and this included a period working at McDonalds.
It was in 2013 that he first heard about Bitcoin, and was encouraged to invest some money into it. According to an article published in the South China Morning Post, he then threw himself totally into the number one cryptocurrency, even selling his flat in order to be able to buy more of it.
In 2017 his star began to shine ever more brightly when he launched his very own crypto exchange called Binance. The exchange shot up the crypto market cap rankings at a meteoric speed, based on a strategy of creating high volumes with low fees.
Now, Binance is the world’s biggest crypto exchange, and according to Fortune, it processes up to $170 billion in transactions per day. Therefore, CZ’s 90% stake in the company means that he has become the 14th richest person in the world, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. However, it must be noted that this index doesn’t take into account the wealth held by CZ in his own personal crypto holdings.
Now that he appears to have made it big financially, CZ says he is more interested in philanthropy. He personally answers some of the questions on the Binance blog page, and recently tweeted from his Twitter account:
“Don’t worry about rankings. Focus on how many people you can help.”
He added the following day:
“Unpopular opinion: instead of wealth rankings, there should be a ranking of charity and philanthropy efforts.”
Binance has suffered some negatives in recent times. China effectively ended the exchange’s stay in mainland China when it outlawed all cryptocurrency transactions. Other jurisdictions have put it under the spotlight on regulatory issues, and the US Department of Justice, and the IRS, are investigating the company for money laundering and tax evasion.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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