- Company
- Binance
- Role
- Founder
- Est. Net Worth
- $30 Billion (Est.)
- Stage
- Elite
- Industry
- Finance
Changpeng Zhao
Founder at Binance
About
Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, founded Binance in 2017 and built it into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume in under a year. Born in China and raised in Canada, he previously worked at the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Bloomberg. He stepped down as CEO in 2023 but remains Binance's largest shareholder and most influential figure.
Current Company
Binance — Founder
Building the World's Largest Crypto Exchange
Changpeng Zhao — known universally as CZ — was born in Jiangsu, China, and emigrated to Canada as a teenager. After studying computer science at McGill University, he built trading systems for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Bloomberg, and several financial firms. He discovered Bitcoin in 2013 and went all in, selling his apartment to buy Bitcoin and joining the crypto payments company Blockchain.info.
In 2017, CZ founded Binance with a $15 million ICO and built it into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume in under 180 days — one of the fastest scaling stories in financial technology history. Binance's combination of low fees, a massive selection of tokens, and aggressive global expansion made it the dominant platform in the crypto ecosystem.
Regulatory Reckoning and Lasting Impact
CZ's rapid, borderless approach to building Binance eventually brought regulatory scrutiny from governments worldwide. In 2023, he stepped down as CEO and pleaded guilty to U.S. anti-money laundering charges, paying a $4.3 billion fine on behalf of Binance. Despite this, CZ remains Binance's largest shareholder and one of the wealthiest people in the cryptocurrency industry.
CZ's story illustrates both the extraordinary potential and the regulatory complexity of building global financial infrastructure on cryptocurrency rails. Binance processes hundreds of billions of dollars in trading volume and serves over 100 million users — a scale that has permanently reshaped the digital asset landscape regardless of the legal challenges its founder has faced.