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Changpeng Zhao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The native form of this personal name is Zhao Changpeng. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Changpeng Zhao
Zhao in 2022
Born1977 (age 47–48)
Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China[1]
Other namesCZ
CitizenshipCanada
France
United Arab Emirates
Alma materMcGill University (BSc)
Occupations
  • Businessman
  • investor
  • software engineer
  • Advisor to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
Known forCo-founder and former CEO of Binance
Spouse
Yang Weiqing
​
(m. 2003⁠–⁠2005)​
PartnerYi He (2014–present)
Children5
Changpeng Zhao
Traditional Chinese趙長鵬
Simplified Chinese赵长鹏
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhào Chángpéng

Changpeng Zhao (Chinese: 赵长鹏; pinyin: Zhào Chángpéng; born 1977), commonly known as CZ, is a businessman who co-founded and served as the CEO of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, from 2017 to 2023 when he stepped down after pleading guilty to money laundering charges in the US.[2]

Born in the Chinese city of Lianyungang, Jiangsu, Zhao emigrated with his family to Canada after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. After majoring in computer science from McGill University, he developed order matching software for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and later futures trading software for Bloomberg Tradebook and established the automated trading startup Fusion Systems in Shanghai in 2005. He became involved with bitcoin in 2013, when he founded Blockchain.com and served as Chief Technology Officer of OKCoin. He co-founded Binance in 2017 which quickly grew into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. The company launched its US operations in 2019.

He resigned as the CEO in November 2023 after the U.S Department of Justice alleged he violated the Bank Secrecy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.[3] He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024.[3][4] Zhao completed his sentence by September of the same year.[5] In October 2025, Zhao was given a presidential pardon by President Donald Trump.[6] The pardon was given amid extensive business dealings between Binance and World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company owned by the Trump family.[7]

Zhao is a Canadian, UAE and French citizen. According to Forbes, Zhao is the richest Canadian and the 21st-richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated at $88.0 billion as of October 2025.[8]

Early life and education

[edit]

Changpeng Zhao was born in Lianyungang in China's Jiangsu province.[1] His parents were both schoolteachers in China.[9] His father Zhao Shengkai[10] worked as a university instructor before he was branded a "pro-bourgeois intellect" and exiled to rural areas shortly after Zhao's birth.[11] In late 1989, when he was 12 years old, he acquired a Canadian visa in 1989 and emigrated with his family to Canada after the events of Tiananmen Square.[12] They settled down in Vancouver, British Columbia. During his teenage years in Canada, Zhao helped to support his family by holding down a number of service jobs, including working as a fast-food clerk at a McDonald's restaurant and a gas station.[13][14]

Zhao attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where he majored in computer science.[13]

Early career

[edit]

After graduating from McGill, Zhao was selected for an internship in Tokyo working for a subcontractor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, developing software for matching trade orders. He later went to work full-time for four years at Bloomberg Tradebook where he was a developer of futures trading software.[13]

Business career

[edit]

In 2005, Zhao moved to Shanghai to launch his business career, where he established his first technology startup company called Fusion Systems,[15] which was known for "some of the fastest automated high-frequency trading platforms and systems for stockbrokers."[13] Zhao first heard of bitcoin in 2013 when playing poker with Bobby Lee (brother of Charlie Lee) who would later go on to found BTCC. Lee advised Zhao to put 10% of his money into bitcoin. Zhao instead "went all in" and sold his apartment in Shanghai and invested all of his wealth in bitcoin, much to his family's dismay.[14]

In 2013, Zhao was a member of the team that developed Blockchain.info and he also served as Chief Technology Officer of OKCoin.[13]

In 2022, Zhao invested $500 million through Binance to finance the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk.[16]

On April 7, 2024, he was appointed by the Pakistan Ministry of Finance as a strategic advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council.[17][18][19]

On May 3, 2025, he was appointed as an advisor to the president of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, on the development of digital assets.[20]

Binance

[edit]

After its launch in July 2017, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange was able to raise $15 million in an initial coin offering, and trading began on the exchange eleven days later.[21] In less than eight months, Zhao grew Binance into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume (as of April 2018).[22][21] Zhao also launched Binance Coin in 2017, a utility token that gives its owners various benefits, such as discounts on trading fees.[23] In April 2019, Binance launched Binance Smart Chain, which has smart contract functionality and is an Ethereum competitor.

In February 2018, Forbes placed him third on their list of "The Richest People In Cryptocurrency," with an estimated net worth of $1.1-2 billion.[22][24]

In 2019, Zhao launched Binance's U.S. affiliate, Binance.US.[25] Binance withdrew its application to run a Singapore-based crypto exchange in 2021.[26]

[edit]

Civil lawsuits

[edit]

On March 27, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and Zhao in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, claiming willful evasion of US law and allegedly breaching derivatives rules.[27][28] The agency accused Binance of breaking rules intended to thwart money laundering operations,[29] pointing to internal communications describing transactions by Palestinian militant organization Hamas and suspected criminals.[27]

In June 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Zhao and Binance on 13 charges for alleged violations of US securities rules.[30][31][32]

In November 2024, FTX filed a lawsuit against Binance Holdings Ltd., Zhao, and other Binance executives, seeking to recover nearly $1.8 billion that FTX alleges was fraudulently transferred. The case centers on a July 2021 stock repurchase transaction in which Binance sold its stakes—approximately 20% of FTX’s international unit and 18.4% of its U.S.-based entity—to FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.[33]

Criminal allegations and sanctions

[edit]

In November 2023, Zhao agreed to resign from Binance and pay a $50 million fine as part of a guilty plea to U.S. federal charges. Binance also agreed to plead guilty, and to pay $4.3 billion in fines.[3][34] Zhao was replaced as CEO by Richard Teng.[35]

Zhao pled guilty to violating the American Bank Secrecy Act by prioritizing Binance's growth over compliance with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's anti-money laundering requirements.[36] Although Zhao only personally pled guilty to a single criminal charge, as part of plea bargain negotiations, Zhao agreed for Binance to also admit to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.[3] Zhao's defense attorneys noted that BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes only received probation for a similar crime and argued that Zhao's ineligibility for minimum-security imprisonment put his safety at risk.[37][38]

In April 2024, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange at a federal court in Seattle.[39] He served his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc I.[40] According to records with the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Zhao was released from custody on September 27, 2024.[41]

Pardon by President Donald Trump

[edit]
"Full and unconditional Pardon" for Changpeng Zhao, signed by President Donald Trump on October 21, 2025

In March 2025, The Wall Street Journal uncovered that Binance was in talks with the family of Donald Trump about business dealings.[42] In August 2025, The Wall Street Journal found that Binance was quietly administering a trading platform for the Trump family's World Liberty Financial.[43] That same month, the New York Times reported that Zhao was campaigning to receive a pardon from President Trump.[44] This was granted by Trump on October 23, 2025.[6] White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt gave the following explanation for the pardon:[45]

Mr. Zhao ... was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency .... In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims. The Biden administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside sentencing guidelines that even the judge said he had never heard of this in his 30-year career. These actions by the Biden Administration severely damaged the United States' reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation.

Zhao thanked Trump, saying "Deeply grateful for today's pardon and to President Trump for upholding America's commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice. 🙏🙏🙏🙏."[7] Binance also thanked Trump, describing the pardon as "incredible news."[7]

In an interview with 60 Minutes on October 31, 2025 (more than a week after he granted the pardon), Trump was asked about the pardon and stated that he had "no idea who [Zhao] is".[46] Then he added, "I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt".[47]

Views on cryptocurrency

[edit]

In an interview with The New York Times, Zhao said people are getting into crypto as they see it grow, "trade it and make money off it as opposed to using it," but that the market will always self-correct.[48] On April 6, 2021, Zhao told Bloomberg Markets that nearly 100% of his liquid net worth was in the form of cryptocurrency.[49]

Personal life

[edit]

In 2005, he moved back to China,[50] eventually owning an apartment in Shanghai.[51] In 2015, he sold his Shanghai apartment and used the funds to purchase bitcoin.[52] Zhao stayed in China until the Chinese government banned crypto exchanges in late 2017.[53] He is currently based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[26]

Zhao met his wife Yang Weiqing in 1999 and they married in 2003.[54] They have two children.[54][55] They divorced when their eldest daughter was two years old, around 2005.[56] Zhao has been in a "life partner" relationship with his business partner and fellow Binance co-founder, Yi He, since they met in 2014.[54][better source needed] They have three children together.[57]

Citizenship

[edit]

Zhao is a Canadian, French, and UAE citizen.[50][58][59] In 2022, Zhao said that he had acquired Canadian citizenship some 30 years before, around 1992 shortly after immigrating to the country with his family.[60]

Political views

[edit]

With regards to his political beliefs, Zhao stated in 2021 in Singapore, "I am not a complete libertarian, I'm not an anarchist... I don't believe human civilization is advanced enough to live in a world with no rules."[14]

Philanthropy

[edit]

Zhao has said he plans to donate up to 99% of his wealth, following the philanthropic examples of other global business magnates and investors such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. "I intend to donate most of my wealth, as many other entrepreneurs or founders have done, from Peabody to today. I intend to donate 90%, 95%, or 99% of my wealth."[61]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Gottsegen, Will (June 3, 2023). "Crypto's Richest Man Is Waiting Out the Chaos". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  2. ^ Sigalos, MacKenzie; Browne, Ryan (November 22, 2023). "Binance users pull more than $1 billion from the exchange after CEO leaves, pleads guilty". CNBC. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Michaels, Dave; Kowsmann, Patricia; Salama, Vivian (November 21, 2023). "WSJ News Exclusive | Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Agrees to Step Down, Plead Guilty". WSJ. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Browne, MacKenzie Sigalos, Ryan (April 30, 2024). "Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months in prison after plea deal". CNBC. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Zeff, Maxwell (September 27, 2024). "Binance founder 'CZ' released from custody after four-month sentence". techcrunch.com.
  6. ^ a b Ballhaus, Rebecca; Dawsey, Josh; Kowsmann, Patricia; Berwick, Angus (October 23, 2025). "Exclusive | Trump Pardons Convicted Binance Founder". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Cassidy, John (October 27, 2025). "The Lessons of an Indefensible Pardon for a Crypto Billionaire". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X.
  8. ^ "The World's Real-Time Billionaires". Forbes.
  9. ^ "Who is Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the Founder of Binance?". en.coinotag.com. September 21, 2023. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  10. ^ "Crossing the Digital Storm: The Legend of Zhao Changpeng and Binance - CaptainZ". Crossing the Digital Storm: The Legend of Zhao Changpeng and Binance - CaptainZ. November 28, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  11. ^ "赵长鹏与币安的崛起". 知乎专栏 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on June 18, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
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  15. ^ Russell, Jon (May 4, 2018). "Catch Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao at TechCrunch's blockchain event on July 6". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
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  18. ^ "Основатель Binance Чанпэн Чжао стал советником Садыра Жапарова". kaktus.media (in Russian). May 3, 2025. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  19. ^ "Основатель криптобиржи Binance стал советником президента Кыргызстана по цифровым активам". fergana.agency (in Russian). Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  20. ^ "Binance founder becomes advisor to president on digital asset development". akchabar.kg. May 3, 2025. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Lee, Justina; Nakamura, Yuji; Robertson, Benjamin (March 28, 2018). "How a Billionaire Crypto King Built the No. 1 Exchange in Just 8 Months". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
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  28. ^ Milmo, Dan (March 27, 2023). "US regulator sues crypto exchange Binance and boss Changpeng Zhao". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
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  31. ^ Goldstein, Matthew; Flitter, Emily; Yaffe-Bellany, David (June 5, 2023). "S.E.C. Accuses Binance of Mishandling Funds and Lying to Regulators". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  32. ^ Michaels, Dave; Ostroff, Caitlin; Kowsmann, Patricia (June 5, 2023). "SEC Sues Crypto Exchange Binance". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023 – via MSN News.
  33. ^ Nicolle, Emily (November 11, 2024). "FTX Sues Binance, Former CEO Zhao Seeking $1.8 Billion Clawback". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
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  37. ^ "Binance crypto founder Zhao sentenced to four months in prison". Reuters. April 30, 2024. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  38. ^ Gene, Johnson (May 1, 2024). "Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months for allowing money laundering". Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  39. ^ Browne, MacKenzie Sigalos,Ryan (April 30, 2024). "Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months in prison after plea deal". CNBC. Retrieved October 30, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  40. ^ Sigalos, MacKenzie (May 31, 2024). "Binance's ex-CEO begins prison sentence in California". CNBC. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  41. ^ "Founder of world's largest crypto exchange Changpeng Zhao released from jail: Read the company's statement". The Times of India. September 28, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2025. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has been released from US jail on September 27, 2024, after serving a four-month sentence at a low-security correctional facility in California.
  42. ^ Ballhaus, Rebecca; Kowsmann, Patricia; Berwick, Angus; Dawsey, Josh; Ostroff, Caitlin (March 13, 2025). "Trump Family Has Held Deal Talks With Binance Following Crypto Exchange's Guilty Plea". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 13, 2025. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  43. ^ Kowsmann, Angus Berwick and Patricia (August 13, 2025). "The Recipe Behind the Trump Family's Crypto Riches: PancakeSwap". The Wall Street Journal.
  44. ^ "Flattery, Lobbyists and a Business Deal: Crypto's Richest Man Campaigns for a Pardon". August 9, 2025. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  45. ^ Navarro, Aaron (October 23, 2025). "Trump pardons billionaire crypto exchange founder who pleaded guilty to money laundering-related charge". CBS News.
  46. ^ Chia, Osmond. "'No idea who he is,' says Trump after pardoning crypto tycoon". BBC News. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  47. ^ Baldwin, Sarah (November 3, 2025). "Trump on Binance cryptocurrency tycoon he pardoned: 'I don't know who he is'". CBS News. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
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  49. ^ Kharif, Olga (April 6, 2021). "Binance CEO Goes All-in on Tokens: 'I Just Want to Keep Crypto'". Bloomberg Markets. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  50. ^ a b "How China's crypto king went from McDonald's to billionaire". South China Morning Post. October 29, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  51. ^ Gomes, Ezequiel (June 4, 2021). "CZ, CEO of Binance, sold his house and bought Bitcoin in 2014". Criptoeconomia. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  52. ^ Zhao, Changpeng. "I wish I could tell you my lame story from 2015, when the btc price "crashed" to below $200, and I just sold my house and bought in at $600 a few months earlier..." Twitter. Twitter.com. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  53. ^ "Who Is Changpeng Zhao? – Forbes Advisor". www.forbes.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  54. ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  55. ^ "Seaver College Announces Fall 2023 Dean's List". Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  56. ^ "The U.S. Department of Justice "changes its mind" or may increase Zhao Changpeng's imprisonment to 3 years? Defense documents reveal a compassionate side". ChainCatcher. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  57. ^ Sor, Jennifer (April 30, 2024). "Binance's former CEO could be the richest US prison inmate ever if sentenced with his $43 billion fortune". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  58. ^ Raymond, Nate (November 24, 2023). "Ex-Binance CEO Zhao urges judge to allow him to leave US before sentencing". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  59. ^ Damien Leloup (June 26, 2023). "Le mystérieux passeport français de Pavel Durov, fondateur de Telegram" [The mysterious French passport of Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance]. Le Monde (in French). ISSN 0395-2037. Wikidata Q129822651. Archived from the original on September 14, 2023.
  60. ^ "'Binance isn't a Chinese firm. Have to repeat it cause I look Chinese': CEO Changpeng Zhao". Moneycontrol. November 24, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  61. ^ Shoes, Eloisa (November 17, 2021). "Bilionário da Binance vai doar quase todo seu dinheiro". Investidores Brasil - Juntos Podemos Mais (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
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