CZ Considers Reducing His Binance Ownership as the Exchange Weighs a Return to the US

There is a quiet shift happening around Binance, the kind that does not announce itself loudly but still changes the shape of what comes next. After years in which Changpeng Zhao and the exchange were almost indistinguishable, signs are emerging that Zhao may reduce his ownership stake just as Binance explores the possibility of reentering the US market.

This is less about retreat and more about realism. The crypto industry has moved into a phase where structure matters as much as speed, and ownership is no longer a private detail. In the US especially, who controls a company carries as much weight as what the company actually does. Even after stepping down from leadership, Zhao’s financial dominance continues to define how regulators perceive Binance.

Reducing that stake would not erase the past, but it would signal that Binance is willing to look different going forward. Founder concentration once helped the exchange grow quickly and decisively. Now it complicates conversations about governance, oversight, and accountability. A more distributed ownership structure makes Binance easier to evaluate, easier to supervise, and ultimately easier to engage with from an institutional perspective.

There is also a human layer here. Letting go of equity is rarely comfortable for founders. It represents a shift from building to sustaining, from personal control to institutional endurance. If Zhao takes this step, it suggests an acceptance that Binance must operate independently of any single figure if it wants access to stricter markets.

A US comeback, if it happens at all, will be slow and conditional. It will depend less on promises and more on visible change. Ownership is one of the clearest signals Binance can offer that it understands the new expectations placed on global crypto platforms.