17/10/2025
He lost his job during the 2008 financial crisis, then built a crypto empire so dominant it became synonymous with the industry itself.
Changpeng "CZ" Zhao was 31 years old.
A skilled developer, he was building matching engines for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and later for Bloomberg.
When the 2008 crisis hit, he was let go. The traditional financial system he helped build was crumbling.
He watched as banks, the pillars of the old world, were bailed out while ordinary people suffered. He saw the deep flaws in the system.
He started trading crypto in 2013. He joined Blockchain.info as Head of Development. Then he became CTO of OKCoin.
But he saw the problems firsthand: clunky interfaces, poor liquidity, and exchanges that were often hacked or unreliable.
The crypto world was the wild west. Everyone said it was a scam, a bubble for gamblers.
“Crypto is for criminals and nerds.”
“It will never be mainstream.”
“The established players will crush you.”
“You’re too late.Mt. Gox already won.”
He didn’t listen.
Here’s what CZ knew that everyone else missed:
The problem wasn't crypto. The problem was the infrastructure. The exchanges were slow, insecure, and user-unfriendly. The market needed a professional, scalable, and secure platform built for everyone.
So he sold his apartment. He took his life savings of roughly $1 million.
He assembled a small, lean team and started coding.
For months, they worked tirelessly. Their focus was maniacal: build an exchange with an unmatched trading engine, high liquidity, and a vast selection of coins.
The breakthrough was a simple, powerful insight: focus on the users.
While other exchanges charged high fees and were slow to list new coins, CZ built Binance to be the opposite.
Low trading fees. A massive number of tradable assets. An intuitive interface that welcomed newcomers.
He launched the Binance ICO in July 2017, raising $15 million in capital.
Weeks later, Binance went live.
Then, a crisis became their catalyst....