In the deep autumn of 2017, Zhao Changpeng stood in a cramped shared office in Tokyo, staring blankly at the trading data on the screen.
Ten minutes ago, the system crashed again. New registered users surged in like a tide, and the server simply couldn't handle it. He personally wrote yet another apology announcement, his fingers hovering over the keyboard for a long time.
Outside the window is the bustling night scene of Tokyo, with neon lights flickering like the sea. But he could see nothing, his mind filled with that question: Should we close new user registration?
It’s closed, just keeping the existing users. If not, the system might completely collapse at any time.
He recalled that three months ago, Binance was just a small team of a dozen people, handling a few million dollars in transactions every day. Now, that number had turned into billions. It was too fast, like a dream that could wake up at any moment.
The assistant walked in and said softly, 'A user sent a long email, over three thousand words.'
Zhao Changpeng took the phone, and on the screen was a story of a Chinese university student. He said he had saved up living expenses for two years to buy his first Bitcoin. Binance was the first exchange he used, the interface was simple, and customer service responded quickly. He said, 'I know you are very busy right now, but please keep going. There are many people like me, we all hope that this small window can show us a little different possibility.'
The email ended with: I check your APP every night before I sleep, that little green icon, like a lamp.
Zhao Changpeng was silent for a long time.
He returned the phone to the assistant and said, 'The server expansion plan must be ready by tomorrow morning. Tonight, keep the registration channel open.'
The assistant was momentarily stunned: 'But—'
'I know it might collapse,' Zhao Changpeng stood up and walked to the window, 'but if we collapse, they have nowhere to go.'
Outside the window, the lights of Tokyo flicker on and off. He suddenly noticed that a small patch of moss had grown in the gap of the window sill, unremarkably green in this forest of steel and concrete.
He squatted down and looked for a long time.
Later, Binance became the largest exchange in the world. Zhao Changpeng had met presidents, appeared on rich lists, and spoken under countless flashes of lights. But many years later, when interviewed, a reporter asked him, 'What moment do you remember the most?'
He was talking about that deep autumn night, in that tiny office in Tokyo, the patch of moss on the windowsill.
'At that moment, I truly understood,' he said, 'what we have to bear is not those who are already standing on the mountaintop, but the countless people who are still at the foot of the mountain, just lighting their torches.'
They are so small, so far away.
But the light in their hands, combined, is the dawn of the entire industry.#内容挖矿 $BTC
