Exclusive Interview with Binance Founder Zhao Changpeng: Four Months That Changed My Life

Written by: Anderson Sima, Executive Editor of Foresight News

TL;DR

Abu Dhabi Strategic Investment:

• Binance chose Abu Dhabi for its regulatory framework and strategic positioning, rather than funding needs. The UAE's compliance environment provides a key foothold for Binance's global development.

Meme Coin Ecosystem:

• Meme coins reflect community creativity, but their high-risk attributes are significant.

• Binance supports innovation but needs to balance user education and risk warnings.

• Trump Coin: Most celebrity tokens are third-party hype actions; public figures should focus on long-term value projects.

Binance Listing Strategy:

• Binance cannot become a place where big players exploit retail investors; it is not advisable for exchanges to act as "selectors," and decentralized exchanges (DEX) are expected to become mainstream in the future.

• It is recommended that project teams publicly disclose their lock-up mechanisms and use third-party smart contracts to enhance transparency.

Industry Development:

• From "issuing coins requires building chains" to the ERC-20 standard, the technical threshold has lowered, but the core logic remains unchanged (community consensus equals value).

• The industry needs to break through financial speculation and explore practical applications like government identity verification and DeSci.

Ethereum and L2:

• Missed the opportunity to invest in Ethereum, but acknowledge its foundational role in DeFi.

• The current bottleneck for Ethereum is insufficient innovation at the application layer, not a technical issue.

Prison Experience:

• Four months of imprisonment reshaped life priorities, realizing the importance of family and health.

• Lost 6 kg but became healthier; mental stress stemmed from uncertainty.

Education Project Giggle Academic:

• Aims to address global educational inequality through gamified learning, cultivating skills that enhance employability (such as AI data labeling).

Future Layout:

• Investment direction: Focus on three major areas: Web3 infrastructure, AI, and DeSci (decentralized science).

• Vision: Support a thousand entrepreneurs, create sustainable unicorn projects, and reshape the industry landscape.

In 2013, a 36-year-old entrepreneur arrived in Las Vegas, where he met a 19-year-old. Despite their age difference, unlike the gamblers seeking thrills and wealth, the older man saw a pure geek spirit in the young man’s eyes and knew he was in the right place.

A month later, he sold his house in Shanghai and used all the proceeds to buy Bitcoin, an action that drew confusion and opposition from those around him. Shortly after, Bitcoin's price began to plummet, while Shanghai's housing prices surged, making his actions seem foolish at the time.

However, he became good friends with the unassuming young man, who lived like a backpacker and even stayed at his home, sharing a bunk bed with his son, teaching him about "smart contracts." It was from that moment that their destinies began to change dramatically.

Later, that young man founded a blockchain network valued at over $200 billion—Ethereum. And he founded the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange—Binance. The names of these two protagonists are Vitalik and Changpeng Zhao.

Changpeng Zhao carries many labels and identities; people prefer to call him CZ. As the founder and largest shareholder of Binance, he was once named "the richest Chinese" by Chinese media, a title he denied. In the crypto community, he was the first crypto KOL to surpass 10 million Twitter followers, and those young fans of memes affectionately call him "Big Brother." Like many passionate entrepreneurs, his life has not been smooth sailing. In 2024, he spent a long four months in an American prison, marking his darkest moment.

Recently, Foresight News had a conversation with one of the most important figures in the crypto space. He told Foresight News that before the interview, he was discussing biotechnology investments with Vitalik. Twelve years have passed, and their lives have undergone tremendous changes, but the natural connection between humans seems to have never changed.

Here is the edited full content:

Foresight News: Recently, Abu Dhabi's investment institution MGX (established in 2024 and closely related to the Abu Dhabi government and royal family) invested $2 billion in Binance, marking the largest single financing in the crypto space to date. Why did Binance choose to establish a strategic partnership with an Abu Dhabi investment institution?

Changpeng Zhao: Yes, this is a strategic investment. In fact, Binance does not lack money; our growth has never been constrained by funding.

When accepting such investments, strategic assistance must be considered. Currently, Abu Dhabi, located in the UAE, holds significant strategic importance in terms of compliance regulations and government support in the entire digital currency industry. There have indeed been other state-owned funds or investment institutions seeking to negotiate with us, but we generally only choose partners with strategic significance.

Foresight News: You have been very active on X recently, which is different from your image in the previous cycle. Regarding meme coins, crypto leaders in the community have varying opinions. What is your view on the meme coin trend?

Changpeng Zhao: There are a few points here. I have always interacted a lot with others on the X platform; I just had less interaction with the meme coin community before. In 2024, I was dealing with matters related to the U.S., and my attention to the entire industry was relatively low. I also had four months without internet access while I was in prison.

So, during that time, my community interaction was indeed reduced, but I had been very active before. I personally enjoy communicating and learning from the community. Recently, my interaction with the meme coin community was to understand what the meme coin ecosystem is really like. I have never bought meme coins or participated in "shitcoin" projects, so I wanted to learn through interaction and questions.

They asked me if I had pets, and I guessed someone might want to name a coin after a pet, which I don't oppose, so I shared my dog's name. As a result, people actually created a coin based on that, forming a project similar to pet battles (PVP). I had never encountered such things before, and after observing the community, I found it quite interesting. Later, everyone asked me to choose which coin was real because several meme coins shared the same name and had considerable market caps. But I didn't want to do that because it would hurt the feelings of users of the other coins, so I didn't participate.

If new and interesting projects emerge, I have no problem interacting with them. Besides buying one BNB TST and Mubarak, I haven't bought other meme coins. Interacting with the community is a learning process for me, and everyone can see that I am learning. I find the meme coin ecosystem quite interesting, and I now have some understanding of it.

Foresight News: Now, the interactions on Web3 chains, such as those related to meme coins, have changed compared to when you first encountered the Bitcoin white paper. What changes have occurred in the blockchain trading experience and user experience?

Changpeng Zhao: There are both commonalities and changes. Early enthusiasts in the digital currency industry valued freedom and decentralization. After Bitcoin emerged, to issue a new coin, one had to create a new chain, requiring about 20,000 lines of code, as seen with Ethereum and China's NEO (which is not as popular now).

Later, Ethereum introduced the ERC20 standard, allowing coin issuance without developing a new chain; one just needed to write a smart contract. Thus, in 2017, a wave of ICO projects emerged, at least requiring a 10-page white paper and a website.

Now it’s simpler; you can create a project just by posting an image. The barrier to issuing coins has lowered, community sizes have grown, and funding has become more abundant. However, the core logic remains that as long as someone recognizes a concept and participates, it has a price; if no one participates, it has no price.

Of course, many projects are genuinely developing products and platforms. The meme coin culture is relatively unique and novel, and its rise can be attributed to several factors.

First, there is some dissatisfaction with the traditional VC model. Traditional VCs invest in projects early and start to exit once they go public, leaving retail investors to take over. Moreover, the previous U.S. government and the SEC believed many coins had security attributes, while meme coins claim to have no real utility, just being fun, thus avoiding potential legal disputes.

Additionally, many small retail investors have the mindset of wanting to use a small amount of money, say $100 to $2000, to multiply their investment tenfold or a hundredfold to change their lives. Combining these factors, meme coins have become popular. I believe meme coins are very risky, with significant price volatility, but the advantage is relative transparency. How long they can last is uncertain; since the community is thriving, we support it. My mindset has always been to see the direction of the community and then support it, while we will continue to support those entrepreneurs and platforms that truly have business models, revenue, and users. Although the forms have changed, the core principles of the industry have not changed much over the years.

Foresight News: The issuance of meme coins has even involved Trump, who is the first president in human history to issue a meme coin. What are your thoughts on a president issuing a coin?

Changpeng Zhao: From what I understand, this Trump coin may not have been issued by Trump himself; he has little actual connection to the issuance. It might have been issued by a third party using his name, although he may have given some degree of tacit approval, but I am not clear on the specifics of his involvement or interests, and I have heard it is minimal.

I think subsequent coins issued by figures like Melania and Milley could be exploited by others. If they claim to issue coins themselves, that’s one thing, but if others use their names to promote and publicize, they may not fully understand the industry and could be taken advantage of.

Influential figures should be cautious when issuing coins. The coins they issue should have long-term value and applications that can bring long-term benefits. Many athletes and celebrities, especially retired ones, want to make a quick buck, which is understandable, but I think it’s not ideal. For those still active and influential, they should focus on issuing tokens with long-term utility.

Foresight News: As the world's largest crypto trading platform, listing coins has always been a headache for Binance. What is your view on the listing issues of VC coins and meme coins?

Changpeng Zhao: Regarding the listing of VC coins and meme coins, from my perspective, as exchanges grow larger, listing becomes a complex issue. As a shareholder of Binance, I least want Binance to become a place where big players exploit retail investors; this is not beneficial for Binance users, Binance itself, or the entire industry.

However, if we go to the other extreme and allow small market cap coins to list too early, that’s also not good. For example, if a coin has a market cap of only $5 million, and Binance has 250 million users, if everyone buys a little, the price might be driven up significantly, and then it could drop back down without support, creating a "spike" market, which is also not acceptable.

So it’s best to find a balance in the middle, trying to list coins as early as possible, but the tokens need to have sufficient market cap to avoid spikes, and the holders should be diversified, not controlled by a few VCs or big players. Additionally, whether VC or big players, it’s best to implement lock-ups, and the lock-up period should be long. I recommend using third-party lock-up solutions rather than having the project team control the smart contracts. We recently invested in a company called Sign, which is a third-party lock-up solution controlled by smart contracts.

Of course, if the project founder is very capable, has a high user base, and is unwilling to adopt this model, we also need to weigh the options.

Listing is indeed very complex; I do not participate in the decision-making for Binance listings, but I think some of their recent actions are quite interesting. In fact, I wrote in my blog that the concept of listing should not exist. A platform with a large user base should allow users to buy any coin in the blockchain world, whether on-chain or off-chain, letting users choose for themselves rather than having the platform filter. I believe this is the right direction; the blockchain industry should not have intermediaries making decisions for users; the platform only needs to provide access services. I have said for many years that decentralized exchanges will be larger than centralized exchanges, and I believe this will definitely happen.

Foresight News: As the largest shareholder of Binance, do you still believe that decentralized exchanges will be more important than centralized exchanges in the future?

Changpeng Zhao: I still believe that.

Foresight News: You recently disclosed your investment portfolio on Binance Square, where BNB accounts for 98.5%, BTC for 1.32%, and the remaining 0.17% is a token airdropped to you from an early payment project. You have never held Ethereum. What is your holding philosophy? Why no other tokens?

Changpeng Zhao: Binance Square shows my personal wallet. In fact, at different times, we have had some Ethereum, but it has never reached an investment scale. BNB was originally issued based on the Ethereum ERC standard, so we will definitely use Ethereum.

But from my personal perspective, I completely missed the investment opportunity in Ethereum. I have known Vitalik (the founder of Ethereum) since I entered the industry in 2013, when the industry was very small. We met multiple times in 2014 and attended exhibitions together.

In 2015, he came to Shanghai and originally wanted to stay at my house, but since my place was small, I arranged for him to stay at a friend's house; later he went to Japan and stayed at my house, sharing a bunk bed with my son and teaching him some blockchain-related knowledge.

By 2015, Ethereum was basically taking shape, and when he told me about the project, I questioned it, thinking it would be difficult to implement such complex functions on the blockchain using a Turing-complete language, so I never invested. Later, Ethereum surged thousands of times, and I indeed missed an opportunity.

However, I have always had a good relationship with Vitalik; just this morning, I was discussing investment opportunities in the biomedical field with him.

Although I did not invest in Ethereum, I believe Ethereum has made significant contributions to the industry. It was Ethereum that established the ERC20 standard, leading to a series of subsequent projects. It is now the second-largest coin by market cap, and although it currently faces some issues, such as network congestion and slow processing speeds, which have drawn many complaints, Vitalik is still young and has a lot of room for growth in the future.

Foresight News: What is your view on the current situation and future of Ethereum? Is Ethereum currently in a development bottleneck?

Changpeng Zhao: It is difficult for me to evaluate Ethereum specifically. Vitalik is a genius, and his personality is quite different from mine; he is not very fond of social interactions and focuses more on technical research. Perhaps because he is young, he has faced a lot of criticism online, so he does not pay much attention to external evaluations.

I think many L2 and L1 chains are not very different now. Our research has found that at this stage, whether doing L1 or L2, the differences are not very significant. Currently, apart from Bitcoin, other chains' capacities have not been saturated, and there is plenty of space to accommodate more transaction volumes.

What is currently lacking is on-chain applications; the transfer function is basically mature, while various practical applications are relatively scarce. I encourage everyone to develop on-chain applications; BNB Chain and Yzi Labs are very supportive of developing applications, such as social media, AI, biomedical data collection, and using blockchain for government identity verification in various scenarios.

Foresight News: Since the birth of blockchain, most out-of-the-box innovations have been related to finance, such as ICOs and DeFi. Besides finance and making money, what direction do you think this industry should develop towards?

Changpeng Zhao: In my view, the development of the industry can be broadly divided into two major areas. One is finance-related, including transfers, investments, ICOs, DeFi, etc. The other area, which is currently less developed, I believe has more potential than the financial sector. Since the birth of Bitcoin, there has been a concept that anything requiring notarization should be placed on the blockchain; it’s just that the demand was not strong enough before, and relevant applications were not developed. Now, starting from the U.S., figures like Musk have proposed using blockchain to improve government efficiency. I have recently interacted with many governments, and they have similar ideas, such as the UAE government. To realize these ideas, decentralized on-chain identity verification (DID) may be needed first. With this identity, it can be applied in scenarios like opening bank accounts, applying for visas, immigration, property registration, hospital visits, diploma verification, government procurement, securities investment, and real estate investment.

Although it is still in the experimental stage, I see many more attempts than before. Just like when the internet first emerged, video conferencing technology took a long time to develop and is now gradually maturing. Blockchain technology is similar; although it is uncertain when these applications will fully develop, I see many people working hard, and Yzi Labs is also involved in many such projects, and we are investing heavily in this area.

Foresight News: You spent a lot of effort last year researching DeSci. What is your view on the development of such projects? Is it meaningful to raise funds for them using blockchain, or is it just a short-term trend like meme coins?

Changpeng Zhao: These types of projects (those combining scientific research and blockchain) definitely have long-term significance; they are completely different from meme coins. DeSci projects have very long development cycles, such as researching drugs for cancer treatment or hair growth, which take a long time.

Currently, global pharmaceutical research funding is mostly controlled by a few large pharmaceutical companies, whose motivations are more about pursuing profits rather than curing all diseases. For example, if a scientist discovers a low-cost method to cure all cancers, large pharmaceutical companies may be reluctant to promote it because it would affect their existing massive supply chains and huge profits.

However, many scientists and medical researchers lack funding during their university or personal research, making it impossible to establish decent laboratories for experiments. The funding they need may not be much, around $100,000 to $500,000, and the annual costs are similar. Blockchain financing is relatively easy, and there are many people worldwide willing to invest in these scientists. Through blockchain smart contracts, funding usage can be restricted; for example, they can only withdraw $100,000 to $200,000 per year, and funds will only be released after reaching certain milestones and community voting.

If scientists do not continue their research, they will not receive subsequent funding. Once the project is successfully developed and has patents and revenue, it should also give back to the investors.

The only issue is that project cycles are long, while investors in the digital currency industry generally have shorter attention spans. Meme coins are very popular, and such projects may not receive attention. But in the long run, these projects contribute significantly to humanity and society, and I believe they will develop in the future, although the specific timing is uncertain.

Foresight News: You have initiated an education project called "Giggle Academic," which seems unrelated to cryptocurrency or finance. Why are you trying to venture into education? I even wonder if this is related to your family background?

Changpeng Zhao: It’s hard to say whether my family background has influenced me; there is certainly some subconscious impact. I believe education is extremely important. Last year, when I had little to do in the U.S., I thought about what could create the most positive impact and maximize the value of my time.

After much consideration, I concluded that education might be the most worthwhile area to invest in, not from a profit perspective, but considering the positive impact. The current education system has many issues; textbooks have not been updated for twenty or thirty years, and classroom education has significant limitations. Classroom education is averaged for twenty or thirty children; if a child excels in math but struggles in English, they may be asked to reduce math study time and spend more time on English, resulting in average-level students.

However, the future world is one of global competition. For example, programmers now use AI to write code, and you must be better than a hundred million others; you need to leverage your strengths rather than pursue average development. Moreover, approximately 1.2 to 1.3 billion people globally cannot attend school, of which 700 to 800 million are adults, two-thirds of whom are women who are illiterate, and there are also 300 to 500 million children not in school. Building schools to solve these problems is very inefficient.

With our current technological level, we can fully utilize gamified methods, using mobile phones and iPads (Android tablets are also very cheap) to build an educational platform that allows children to learn while playing games. I formed a team, which initially had only three to five people, and now has about 30. We have developed thirty to forty courses, which are highly gamified, and children become immersed in learning letters, colors, new words, etc., and everyone loves it.

I calculated that creating a first-grade English course would cost a maximum of $1 million, and for twelve grades, it would be $12 million. If we create 30 different courses, including English, math, biology, and science, it would require about $300 million. The U.S. government subsidizes education departments with $110 billion annually; we only need to spend 0.3% of that to digitize the entire 18 years of educational content currently taught in schools and deliver it directly to children through the platform.

I am not doing this project to make money; all content is free. I believe the return on investment (not monetary return, but social impact return) is higher than any charity or donation, so I will continue to do it, and this project makes me very happy. Over the past year, I spent four months in prison, and before that, I spent five or six months preparing for court, so I have only actually worked on it for a few months. Now, over 7,800 children are using our product, while many universities have only five or six thousand students, and this success gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

Our starting point is not to get children diplomas but to help them find jobs. A 10-year-old can earn money doing AI data labeling; my 13-year-old nephew manages a gaming community of 14,000 people, which is also a job that can earn money. However, to obtain a graduation diploma, one needs to study many subjects, including language, math, English, natural science, and physical education.

Finding a job may only require one skill, and the age restrictions are quite flexible. For example, in programming, basic English communication suffices; for graphic design, the requirements for other subjects are also low. My goal in creating this platform is not to get African children into Harvard but to help them find a job, whether remote or face-to-face, earning $300 to $2,000 a month, which is a high income in Africa. So this platform differs fundamentally from traditional education, and there will be significant design differences.

Foresight News: Besides the vibrancy in the crypto field, the global macro environment is not good this year. Tariff issues exist not only between the U.S. and China but also between the U.S. and all its allies; the war between Ukraine and Russia has not stopped, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues. Do you pay attention to these macro situations?

Changpeng Zhao: I don’t pay too much attention, but I am quite optimistic. I feel that the previous U.S. government was not very friendly towards crypto, which is a profound personal experience. The new U.S. government has only been in office for about 60 days, and like a company changing executives, it takes a few months to stabilize various affairs. From my perspective, we cannot expect the new government to solve all problems within ten days; many issues have accumulated over years, such as the Ukraine-Russia war, which has deep historical roots.

However, I can clearly see that the U.S. government is working hard to resolve these issues, and the methods of resolution have improved significantly compared to before. Although they cannot be resolved immediately, at least there is active negotiation, which usually takes months. Currently, the U.S. government is acting quite quickly, with new measures being introduced daily.

This government is relatively friendly towards digital currencies and the entire business sector. Of course, being friendly to business does not mean stock prices will always rise, as this involves negotiations between countries, including tax issues, such as negotiations between the U.S. and China, Canada, Mexico, and others. But as long as negotiations are ongoing, there is hope, so everyone should have reasonable expectations about the issues. I can clearly feel that this government is much better than two months ago; although not all problems have been solved, there is at least a trend of problem-solving.

I remain optimistic about the macro environment. In the future, the development of AI, robotics, and blockchain will require cooperation among major powers because China has strong production capabilities. For example, many raw materials for American robots are produced in China, making it difficult to cut off the supply chain. So I am still quite optimistic.

Foresight News: You spent four months in prison last year, an experience that is hard for ordinary people to imagine. How has this experience changed you? Do you consider it a nightmare?

Changpeng Zhao: This experience was very unpleasant, but it wasn’t to the extent of a nightmare. In the American prison system, I was not physically threatened, and there were no fights, but the psychological pressure was immense.

The biggest worry was the uncertainty of how long I would be incarcerated. If I had known it would be four months, my mindset might have been much more relaxed. However, I was constantly worried that they would find reasons to keep me longer, and this uncertainty brought significant mental stress.

This experience has definitely changed my outlook on life, making me realize what is truly important. I used to be a workaholic, but in prison, all external possessions were gone, and what I missed most was not work but family and friends. Moreover, in prison, if you get sick, unless you are close to death, the doctors won’t help you; if you have a cold or fever, you have to endure it yourself, which made me realize the importance of health.

There was not much else to do in prison, so I worked out every day. Although the food was poor, I still tried to eat a bit. I lost 6 kg over four months, but my physical condition was still good, and my muscles became more developed. After getting out, I will cherish the time spent with my family more, and my life priorities will change. This was a very unpleasant experience, and I do not wish for anyone to have to go through it.

Foresight News: Did you get sick in prison?

Changpeng Zhao: Yes, I had a cold and cough three or four times during the four months. In prison, you can buy ordinary fever reducers, pain relievers, and vitamin C effervescent tablets. Less than two weeks after I entered, I had a sore throat and a slight fever, just in time for a health check. I told the doctor I was not feeling well, and the doctor said they only check blood pressure and weight. If treatment is needed, you either buy over-the-counter medicine from the store or reapply to see a doctor, but you have to wait three weeks. So in prison, you basically have to rely on yourself for medical treatment.

Foresight News: Is there also an economic and currency system in prison?

Changpeng Zhao: Yes, you can spend a maximum of $180 every two weeks, and buying things requires filling out an application form, which is quite cumbersome. You can only shop once every two weeks. If the items you apply for are out of stock, you cannot buy them, so you can’t even spend the full $180; shopping is very restricted.

Foresight News: In the crypto space, there is another important figure in prison—Sam Bankman-Fried (founder of FTX). Based on your experience, do you think he should be given another chance? What is your evaluation of his actions?

Changpeng Zhao: I think it’s better to refrain from commenting too much; people might think I have said too much. I just believe that any fraudulent behavior should be punished to some extent, as many people have suffered huge losses because of it. But how to punish specifically, I am not an expert in this area, so I won’t comment further.

Foresight News: What is your primary concern at this stage? What are your plans for the next phase?

Changpeng Zhao: At this stage, I am spending a lot of time thinking about how to help other entrepreneurs succeed. I am not currently starting a business; I have accumulated some experience from previous ventures. We have an investment fund, and if entrepreneurs need help, I can also serve as an advisor. Of course, many people seek me out, and we will conduct some screening. I hope to support hundreds or even thousands of successful entrepreneurs, allowing their projects to become unicorn companies; that would make me particularly happy, as it can indirectly promote the development of society as a whole. This is what I am most interested in right now.

We now have Yzi Labs, which we basically use to invest in and support entrepreneurs. I generally do not make particularly grand plans and do not outline specific matters for five or ten years down the line. I tend to look at a direction; I know that in five or ten years, the blockchain industry will be larger, the AI industry will continue to develop, and biomedical science will also advance significantly. So I will continue to invest in these three areas and support entrepreneurial projects.