Changpeng Zhao, born in 1977 in Jiangsu, China, is the former CEO of Binance and served four months in prison after pleading guilty to legal violations. He completed his sentence and was later approached by Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance to join its Cryptocurrency Board of Directors, as well as to serve as a digital asset development adviser to the president of Kyrgyzstan.
In several interviews, Zhao has said that emigrating from China with his family “changed his life.” At the age of 12, he left his homeland and settled in Vancouver, Canada, where he worked in a McDonald’s kitchen before opening his first startup. In the meantime, he attended university and invested all his money in cryptocurrency applications.
The Tiananmen Square massacre was the trigger for Zhao and his family to leave China. His parents, both teachers, decided in 1989—after the killing of many citizens during days of protests—to leave the country. The Chinese entrepreneur recounted in a Binance blog post the difficult times he and his family endured during that period.
Zhao also recalled that upon arriving in Canada, the line at the embassy lasted “up to three days.” While living in Vancouver, he studied Computer Science at McGill University while working at McDonald’s to help support his family.
His studies opened the door to his first internship at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. His first official job was in New York at Bloomberg Tradebook, a brokerage firm, where he was involved in developing software for long-term trading operations.
Although Binance was founded in 2017, years earlier Zhao had launched his first startup, Fusion Systems, a platform focused on high-frequency trading, where speed and automated processes are crucial. In the meantime, the Chinese government banned cryptocurrency applications, forcing him to continue his business abroad.
Interest in cryptocurrencies
In mid-2013, when Zhao was with one of Bitcoin’s directors, he first heard about cryptocurrencies and their applications, and decided to invest all his money in crypto. He literally sold his apartment in Shanghai to put 100% of his fortune into Bitcoin. Months later, he became part of the team that built Bitcoin’s blockchain, as well as serving as chief technology officer for another similar company.
Binance was founded in 2017, but since the Chinese government opposed the operation of cryptocurrency platforms in the country, Zhao had to leave China to run his business abroad. Just eleven days after launching the app, the computer scientist had created a giant. In less than two weeks, Binance became the largest crypto exchange in the world. During those early years, Zhao also launched tokens that provided users with additional revenue opportunities.
Once again, emigration from China opened better opportunities for Zhao, allowing him to strengthen his business with Binance. In 2018, Forbes magazine ranked him as one of the three richest people in cryptocurrencies, and a year later, he opened the U.S. headquarters for his platform.
Legal troubles, prison, and a new life
Why did Zhao serve four months in prison? “I made mistakes and must take responsibility,” the Chinese entrepreneur said years later. The Binance founder and former CEO was jailed for diverting funds to users of his app. Zhao circumvented U.S. legal requirements, allowing users to trade outside the law.
Following a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, it was determined that Binance was not registered as a securities company, which led to Zhao’s imprisonment. How did it end? Zhao pleaded guilty, paid a $50 million fine, while Binance gave up 20% of its shares and paid nearly $4 billion.
Prosecutors had requested a three-year sentence for Zhao, who could not choose the location due to not being a U.S. citizen. On September 27, the Chinese entrepreneur was released, beginning a new life focused on digital assets.
After his time in prison, Zhao set out to demonstrate passive earnings to rebuild trust with the public. Several governments sought his expertise, the most recent being the president of Kyrgyzstan. Since May, Zhao has been an adviser in the field of digital assets. With his extensive experience—and despite a dark period—he has embarked on a more low-profile professional chapter.