Changpeng Zhao, the founder and ex-CEO of Binance, was finally released from prison a couple of days ago.
The entrepreneur has a massive influence on crypto, and its presence was indeed felt by investors, casual buyers and degens alike.
To celebrate his homecoming, we have developed an article containing ten interesting and less-known facts about CZ. Enjoy!
Who is Changpeng Zhao?
Changpeng Zhao, often known as "CZ," is the co-founder and ex-CEO of Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges.
Born in China and raised in Canada, CZ's journey into crypto began in 2013 when he started working with OKCoin and Blockchain.info. He recognized the long-term potential of crypto and launched Binance in 2017.
Under his leadership, Binance quickly grew, becoming the most influential CEX in the industry. CZ is known for his strong advocacy for Web3 adoption. He has been a vocal supporter of DeFi and is committed to making crypto accessible to everyone.
Top Ten Facts About CZ
Here are the ten most interesting many don’t know about CZ:
CZ Loves Unusual Marketing Tactics
Under CZ’s reign, Binange has offered several interesting promotions to attract more customers and deposits. One of them had a Lamborghini as a giveaway! While CZ isn’t interested in cars, his company’s promotional methods have generated a lot of attention.
However, what sets CZ apart is the fact that how own persona has been the best marketing for Binance for many years now. The founder was recognized as a revolutionary and a great crypto advocate, making him a saint among crypto degens and investors.
CZ Worked at McDonald’s
Yeah, you heard it right – the person who is now worth above $60 billion started his career at McDonald’s!
As a teenager, CZ started working to help with household expenses. In the 1980s, he joined McDonald’s and flipped burgers to help his family.
Rapid Success
CZ made Binance the biggest crypto exchange in the world in just over eight months. Launched in 2017, Binance gained the most market share of the crypto exchange world in early 2018.
Now, the platform has onboarded over 200 million users and is processing over $13 billion in daily trading volume. Insane!
No Other Investments
Other than his equity in Binance, CZ only owns his investments in Bitcoin and BNB. Even so, these holdings, especially the BNB are probably pretty big.
Before Binance Investments became a solitary company, CZ owned equity in other smaller companies through the venture arm of his crypto exchange. Other than that, the entrepreneur didn’t invest any of his wealth in other companies.
Poker Introduced CZ to Bitcoin
CZ first heard about Bitcoin during a poker game.
The story goes that CZ was playing poker with a couple of friends including Bobby Lee, and it was under his recommendation that CZ bought his first Bitcoin back in 2013 after this card game.
Interestingly enough, Bobby Lee is the founder of the formerly huge mining company BTCC (BTC China).
CZ is a Degen!
After a couple of months of hearing about Bitcoin, CZ sold his apartment so he would have more money to buy more Bitcoin. At the time Bitcoin was worth ~$600. During that time, CZ probably bought around 1000 BTC – the best investment decision ever!
Plans To Donate His Wealth
Like many ultra-wealthy who decide to go into philanthropy, CZ intends to follow that path. He said it would not surprise him if he gave away 90%, 95% or even 99% like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are doing.
At today’s valuation (which will, no doubt, be doubled in time), 90% means around $54 billion donated to philanthropic causes. Good job CZ!
He has already donated millions of dollars to various causes through Binance Charity Foundation (BCF), which he founded in 2018.
Some of the projects supported by BCF include COVID-19 relief efforts, blockchain education initiatives, women empowerment programs, and more.
One Company Man
CZ owns no stock or equity in any other company besides Binance. The entrepreneur has no other personal investments besides Bitcoin, BNB and Binance.
However, before Binance, CZ actually funded two other companies. He left BTCC in 2014 and founded BijieTech, a company that provided cloud-based exchange systems for over 30 exchanges. He also co-founded OKCoin as CTO.
CZ Loves Fruit
His first tweet after being released from prison was about how grateful he was for having more than one fruit per day and the taste of his food.
He also shared some of his plans for the near future. The businessman plans on relaxing a bit and then returning to reshaping the crypto world!
Educational Beginnings
After Binance, CZ will focus on Giggle Academy, investing in projects that would have a big impact on the community and giving away a ton of money for charity.
Giggle Academy will focus on spreading the word about crypto all around the world, increasing the chances of mass adoption.
Conclusion
So here you have it, ten interesting facts that most of you probably didn’t know about the co-founder of Binance.
Now, we wait for CZ to return and start working on new ideas, building new projects and making the Web3 world a little bit better with every investment!
