Story of Changpeng Zhao, the Founder and CEO of Binance.
Personal Life of Changpeng Zhao -
Changpeng Zhao is a Chinese-Canadian businessman who was born on September 10, 1977, in Jiangsu, China. His parents were also teachers. Zhao's father was a university professor who was banished after being classified as a "pro-bourgeois genius." As a consequence, by the late 1980s, the family had relocated to Vancouver, Canada. During his adolescence in Canada, Zaho began working part-time to help support his family's costs. After school, he used to work at McDonald's and a few gas stations.
Changpeng Zhao - Early Career -
Changpeng Zhao earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from McGill University in Montreal. He began his job as an intern in Tokyo after graduating. He worked for a trader on the Tokyo Stock Exchange who requested Zhao to create software for matching stock transaction orders. Following his first experience, he joined Bloomberg Tradebook LLC in 2001 as the leader of the Futures Development sector for the following four years.
Later that year, in 2005, Zhao co-founded Fusion Systems. The firm provided IT solutions as well as other business consulting services. Changpeng Zhao remained a partner with Fusion Systems till the end of 2013 before venturing into the realm of cryptocurrency.
Changpeng Zhao - Crypto World Professions -
Changpeng Zhao became the leader of the Blockchain development team in 2013. Blockchain.com is a business that offers a variety of cryptocurrency-related services. It developed a cryptocurrency wallet that handled over 28% of all bitcoin transactions between 2011 and 2020. Zhao works for this startup building software for cryptocurrency wallets.
Zhao departed from the firm after nearly a year of working in Blockchain and joined OKCoin as the Chief Technical Officer. OKCoin, like Binance, is a cryptocurrency exchange that is regarded as one of the biggest in the world. However, Zhao believed that the firm did not fit his vision of cryptocurrency exchange and opted to resign from his job.
CZ created a firm called Bijie Tech after leaving OKCoin. This firm offered cryptocurrency exchange services to residents of Shanghai. It served consumers for two years, from 2015 to 2017, when all of Bijie tech's platforms and websites fell down one day. The management provided no information or clarification on the company's absence. However, with the demise of Bijie Tech, a powerful firm known as Binance formed.
Changpeng Zhao's Binance Journey -
Changpeng Zhao's interest in cryptocurrencies began in 2014, when he was playing poker with a buddy. During that time, he learned about Bitcoin and began investing in it. He even sold his home to get Bitcoins. Such was his enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency sector. Zhao gained expertise while working in a variety of organisations.
Bijie Tech faded away, only to reappear as Binance. Binance was built using all of the prior company's top personnel and resources. Changpeng Zhao has been the company's CEO since its inception in 2017. In terms of trading volume, this bitcoin exchange platform is the biggest. Binance made Zhao a millionaire in less than 180 days of business. He has risen to become the world's 11th wealthiest person, with a net worth of $96 billion.
Obstacles and Challenges -
During his five years at Binance, Zhao encountered several hurdles. Because of China's strict crypto rules, he was obliged to relocate his headquarters from China to the Caymen Islands. Binance is being investigated by the US Department of Justice for money laundering violations. Similarly, numerous other nations, including Germany and the United Kingdom, have taken legal action or issued warnings against the corporation. In reality, a large amount of bitcoins worth roughly $40 million were stolen from Binance in 2019. Zhao confronted all of these obstacles, including the bitcoin theft, front on. He made certain that the corporation made up for any losses and that he never let his consumers down.