Mystery of CZ

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Asia's first crypto businessman, founder of the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, billionaire Changpeng Zhao is one of the most mysterious figures in the Forbes list. He does not flicker at parties, does not own expensive real estate and cars, prefers a basic sweatshirt with a hood over Prada suits Some even might say that he lives an “ordinary” life. Is it weird for a person with a fortune of $96 billion?Chinese Canadian

Changpeng Zhao was born in the Chinese province of Jiangsu on January 1, 1977. His father was a philosophy teacher at a local university, and his mother was a school teacher. The family often had to move from place to place, until the late 1980s. Changpeng's father was recognized as a "pro-bourgeois intellectual", an opponent of the authorities, and sent into exile. So, in a short time, Vancouver became a new home for the future crypto businessman. Canada at that time was famous for its interest in skilled workers and had no problem accepting young minds.

From McDonald's to Binance

Changpeng has been in love with computer technology since his youth. In exile, the Zhao family did not live well, so he had to look for independent sources of income. During the day, CZ was working in the kitchen of McDonald's, and at night at a gas station. Plus he had  to study and attend the school volleyball team – it was a difficult schedule for the young Changpeng. His father also worked hard to support his family and his dream of a modern personal computer. 

As you know, hard work, diligence and perseverance always pay off: after a while, the head of the Zhao family was able to buy his first personal computer – IBM PC XT 286. It cost a lot of money, but it was worth it. Chongpeng's father became fluent in several programming languages, including Fortran, Pascal and C, and did not hesitate to pass on his knowledge to his son. 

Entrepreneurship and first financial love

After finishing school, Changpeng got into the main University of Montreal and began to study computer science. After three years he started an internship at a Japanese financial company that outsourced work for the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The love for trading appeared in his student years while CZ was working for the Tokyo stock market. The young specialist got acquainted with the trading system. He studied the development of high-frequency trading systems and watched with his own eyes how multi-million dollar trades are closed in a split second. 

Later Changpeng admitted that at that moment he was amazed at how much money was circulating in this environment. “So I stayed in this industry forever”, says the crypto entrepreneur in an interview with Bloomberg.

Everything on Bitcoin?

Changpeng mastered the rules of the game on the traditional financial system quite quickly. Before he had time to get bored with it, a new financial phenomenon appeared – cryptocurrency.

The future crypto businessman met Bitcoin not at the university or during an internship, but at the poker table in 2013. At the time, Changpeng was friends with CEO of BTC China crypto exchange Bobby Li and crypto investor Ron Cao. They gave the programmer the idea of investing in Bitcoin. The young man became interested in the offer and after studying the technical documentation agreed to convert part of his savings into cryptocurrency.

Changpeng explained why he did it in the same interview: “What I really liked about Bitcoin back then, and even now, is it’s borderlessness. You can transfer money from one country to any other country, not limited by any person or intermediaries”. Entering the crypto industry in Changpeng's life was a very risky thing. The future billionaire sold his apartment in Shanghai, quit his job and transferred all his funds to cryptocurrency.

The birth of Binance

By 2017, already a successful entrepreneur, analyst and business expert, Changpeng Zhao decided to create his own cryptocurrency exchange, in the wake of the popularization of ICO projects. Thanks to the investors, he managed to raise $15 million, and in July 2017, Binance saw the light of day. It took the company only six months to turn from a potentially successful startup into the largest digital exchange with a profitable turnover of $200 million.

The format of the cryptocurrency exchange itself was not a breakthrough idea in 2017. During the 8 years of the Bitcoin existence, there appeared a sufficient number of financial platforms in the world, but they all worked slowly and required expensive maintenance. Binance (BNB) turned out to be a fusion of two technologies – a decentralized blockchain system and high-frequency trading systems, the development of which Zhao studied at the university.

According to Changpeng himself, in 2017 the cryptocurrency market remained “clunky”, the exchanges lacked a customer support system, the interface was frustrating, and the platform itself was very slow. Binance worked through all these problems and attracted a huge flow of customers. Moreover, Changpeng added a crypto-to-crypto mechanism to the exchange, and users finally had the opportunity to convert cryptocurrency without any problems.

In 2021, about 7 million new users joined the platform. By the end of 2022, Binance has maintained its position as the world's largest digital asset platform and has evolved into a full blockchain ecosystem.

The most unusual billionaire

As for the personality of the billionaire himself, world publications note his modesty, restraint, secrecy and a completely non-secular lifestyle. The entire personal life of Changpeng Zhao is hidden from the public eye. Many call him "elusive" – accustomed to life on the road since childhood, Zhao rarely stays in one country for a long time. Everything that Zhao owns, according to Forbes, he needs for work and movement. Changpeng Zhao has managed to do what others have not been able to do — he opened the doors for the process of decentralization to the world economy. What to expect from a young crypto billionaire in the future, we do not know, however for sure it will be something extraordinary. 

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