Changpeng Zhao

Changpeng Zhao
Born	Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China
Other names	CZ
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, Business executive
Years active	2005–present
Known for	Co-founder and former CEO of Binance
Notable work	Founder of Fusion Systems; former CTO of OKCoin; strategic advisor to Pakistan Crypto Council and Kyrgyzstan president

Changpeng Zhao (), commonly referred to as CZ, is a Canadian entrepreneur of Chinese origin and the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Binance. He stepped down from his CEO role in November 2023 following a guilty plea to money laundering charges in the United States. Zhao received a four-month prison sentence in April 2024, which he completed by September of the same year.

As reported by Forbes, Zhao held the position of the 24th wealthiest individual globally and was the second-richest person in Canada, with an estimated net worth of $64.8 billion as of May 2025.

On April 7, 2025, the Pakistan Ministry of Finance appointed Zhao as a strategic advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council to advance cryptocurrency and blockchain initiatives. Subsequently, on May 3, 2025, he took on an advisory role to Kyrgyzstan’s president, Sadyr Japarov, focusing on digital asset development.

Early life and education

Zhao was born in Lianyungang, located in China’s Jiangsu province. At the age of 12, he relocated with his family to Canada, settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents were educators; notably, his father had been a university lecturer before being branded a "pro-bourgeois intellect" and sent into exile in rural areas shortly after Zhao’s birth. During his adolescence in Canada, Zhao supported his household by taking on various service industry jobs, including positions at McDonald's and a gas station.

He pursued higher education at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where he studied computer science.

Early career

Following his graduation from McGill, Zhao completed an internship in Tokyo with a subcontractor for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where he developed software for matching trade orders. He subsequently spent four years at Bloomberg Tradebook, working as a developer specializing in software for futures trading.

Business career

In 2005, Zhao relocated to Shanghai to embark on his entrepreneurial path by founding Fusion Systems, a technology startup recognized for creating some of the fastest automated high-frequency trading platforms utilized by stockbrokers. In 2013, after learning about bitcoin from Bobby Lee, co-founder of BTCC, who recommended allocating 10% of assets into bitcoin, Zhao instead liquidated his Shanghai apartment and invested his entire fortune into bitcoin.

That same year, he played a role in developing Blockchain.info and held the position of Chief Technology Officer at OKCoin.

In 2022, Zhao allocated $500 million through Binance to back Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.

By 2025, he had been named strategic advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC).

Binance

Founded in July 2017, Binance secured $15 million through an initial coin offering and commenced trading eleven days afterward. Within just eight months, Zhao expanded Binance to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally by trading volume (as of April 2018). He also introduced Binance Coin in 2017—a utility token providing perks such as reduced trading fees. In April 2019, Binance launched Binance Smart Chain, which supports smart contracts and serves as a competitor to Ethereum.

In February 2018, Forbes placed Zhao third on their list of "The Richest People In Cryptocurrency," estimating his net worth between $1.1 billion and $2 billion.

In 2019, Zhao established Binance's U.S. branch, Binance.US. The company later withdrew its application to operate a cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore in 2021.

Civil litigation

On March 27, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) initiated a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, accusing them of deliberately circumventing U.S. regulations and violating derivatives trading rules. The CFTC's complaint highlighted breaches of anti-money laundering statutes, referencing internal messages related to transactions connected to the Palestinian militant organization Hamas and individuals suspected of criminal activity.

In June 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought a 13-count case against Zhao and Binance, alleging infringements of U.S. securities laws, including misappropriation of funds and providing false information to regulatory bodies.

In November 2024, FTX filed a lawsuit against Binance Holdings Ltd., Zhao, and other senior officials to reclaim nearly $1.8 billion purportedly transferred through fraudulent means. This legal action centers on a July 2021 stock buyback transaction where Binance sold about 20% of FTX’s international division and 18.4% of its U.S. subsidiary to FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Criminal charges and penalties

In November 2023, Zhao consented to step down as CEO of Binance and agreed to pay a $50 million penalty after admitting guilt to federal charges in the United States. Concurrently, Binance pleaded guilty and committed to paying $4.3 billion in fines. Following Zhao’s resignation, Richard Teng assumed the CEO position.

Zhao confessed to breaching the American Bank Secrecy Act by prioritizing Binance’s expansion over adherence to anti-money laundering laws. Under the plea agreement, Binance admitted to running an unlicensed money transmission operation and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

In April 2024, Zhao received a four-month prison sentence related to money laundering offenses. Due to his status as a non-U.S. citizen, he was deemed ineligible for minimum-security incarceration—a point his defense argued raised concerns about his safety. Prosecutors had initially requested a three-year term.

Zhao was released from detention on September 27, 2024. In August 2025, the New York Times reported that Zhao was petitioning former President Donald Trump for a presidential pardon.

Perspectives on cryptocurrency

During an interview with The New York Times, Zhao observed that many participants enter the cryptocurrency space primarily for trading and profit rather than actual usage; nevertheless, he expressed confidence that market forces would eventually restore balance. On April 6, 2021, he revealed in a conversation with Bloomberg Markets that almost all of his liquid net worth was invested in cryptocurrency.

On April 7, 2025, Pakistan's Ministry of Finance appointed Zhao as a strategic advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), an organization dedicated to fostering blockchain innovation and digital asset regulation within Pakistan.

Personal background

Zhao possesses citizenships from Canada and the UAE. Born in China in 1977, he obtained a Canadian visa in 1989 and emigrated following the Tiananmen Square incident. By 1992, he had secured Canadian citizenship. Returning to China in 2005, he purchased an apartment in Shanghai which he later sold in 2015 to invest in bitcoin. He remained in China until late 2017 when cryptocurrency exchanges were banned there. Presently, he resides in Dubai.

Zhao married Yang Weiqing in 2003; they have two children but divorced around 2005. Since 2014, he has been partnered with Binance co-founder He Yi, with whom he shares three children.

Political views

In 2021, Zhao articulated a practical approach to leadership: "I do not identify as a full libertarian or an anarchist... I believe that human society has yet to reach a stage where it can function without any regulations."

Philanthropy

Zhao has pledged to give away as much as 99% of his fortune, following the philanthropic examples set by figures such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. He has expressed plans to allocate the bulk of his wealth toward charitable causes, continuing a well-established tradition among successful entrepreneurs.