In a teacher's family in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, Zhao Changpeng was born in 1977.
No one expected that this man, later known as 'CZ', would be hailed as 'the richest prisoner in history.'
He would stir the waters of global wealth, ultimately ending his legend with an absurd period in prison. The story begins from............
Chapter One: From the Gas Station to Wall Street, a Naturally 'Dishonest' Tech Geek
Imagine that 12-year-old Zhao Changpeng moved to Vancouver, Canada with his family from China.
Without a wealthy family background, he could only work at a gas station, watching his classmates drive luxury cars while he drove his dad's old car. But this kid had a strong determination; he didn't care about appearances, only about technology.
McGill University's computer science program became his playground, and by age 27, he had become the 'big shot' in Bloomberg's three major battlefields: New York, London, and Tokyo, with a salary that made his friends envious.
Logically, the road would lead to Wall Street elites in suits, living worry-free lives. But Changpeng Zhao was precisely an 'unruly' character.
He resigned and returned to China, starting a business in Shanghai to write high-frequency trading systems for brokerages.
This job was a proper 'first-generation financial technology migrant worker,' writing code, fixing bugs, living a nine-to-five life. If he had played it safe, he might now be just a successful invisible millionaire.
But fate always gives an opportunity to those who are 'unruly.' In 2013, a poker game changed everything.
At the poker table, a big shot patted his shoulder and said, 'Little Zhao, put 10% of your net worth, all in Bitcoin.'
'Bitcoin?' This was the first time Changpeng Zhao had heard of it.
'Yes,' the big shot said, 'this thing can change the world in the future. Even if it goes to zero, you'll only lose 10 percent, but what if it succeeds?'
Changpeng Zhao was intrigued. He began to study the white paper written by the mysterious person called 'Satoshi Nakamoto.'
Soon, he was completely captivated by the idea of 'decentralization,' not needing banks, and being self-determined.
Chapter Two: The Craziest Investment in History and the Split of the 'Three-Horse Carriage.'
In 2014, Changpeng Zhao did something that left everyone stunned—he sold his house in Shanghai and exchanged it for Bitcoin!
At that time, Bitcoin was just a thing in the geek circle, with prices fluctuating wildly. Friends thought he was crazy.
As a result, six months later, housing prices doubled while Bitcoin's price fell by two-thirds.
Changpeng Zhao looked at the shrinking assets in his account, not a trace of panic on his face, but rather more determined: 'This is all about the thrill!'
More crazily, he met 'Crypto Circle Sister' He Yi at OKCoin and, along with founder Xu Mingxing, formed the powerful 'three-horse carriage.'
But the good times didn't last long; the 'startup dream team' quickly fell apart due to cultural and value conflicts.
In a fit of rage, Changpeng Zhao fired shots on social media, exposing Xu Mingxing's 'black materials' one by one. Xu Mingxing did not back down either, and the two staged an annual 'scolding battle' in the crypto circle.
After leaving OKCoin, Changpeng Zhao initially planned to take a break and create a trading system for stamps and coins. But the seeds of Bitcoin had long taken root in his heart.
He realized that instead of making others rich, he might as well start his own exchange.
Chapter Three: An exchange without a headquarters, with employees scattered globally.
In 2017, Binance was born. Changpeng Zhao gave it a powerful slogan: Exchange the World.
This name sounds impressive, but it turned into a 'world-class problem' when implemented. The issue lay in that decisive word—'decentralization.'
'What we are doing is not a traditional exchange,' Changpeng Zhao said while standing in front of the whiteboard to a confused startup team, 'we're doing something different! Since 'decentralization' is in the name, our company structure must also be decentralized!'
May 2, 2015, photo taken in Tokyo.
As a result, Binance became the most unique company globally:
Without a physical headquarters, it was like a group of nomads;
Employees worked from home, spread across more than 100 countries and regions worldwide;
The office was just a chat app called 'Telegram.'
Imagine the scene: a customer service representative named 'Alice' might be sunbathing on a beach in Spain, while a tech wizard named 'Bob' could be coding in a cyber café on a small island in Southeast Asia. Founder CZ might be drinking coffee in Tokyo today and watching the sunset in Istanbul tomorrow.
Major decisions in the company were not made by banging the table in a conference room, but rather through a frenzy of 'screen voting' in the Telegram group.
This 'borderless, bossless' model was hailed as a 'utopian' ideal in the geek circle. It allowed Binance to grow wildly at lightning speed. On the first day Binance launched, the servers crashed due to excessive user traffic.
Changpeng Zhao decisively posted in the Telegram group: 'If there are tech experts who can fix this, I'll give you shares in Binance!'
A few days later, a Ukrainian hacker really helped them solve the issue.
Changpeng Zhao kept his word and truly gave shares.
Binance, in this way, rapidly gathered the world's top talents in the most open and unconventional manner, and within just a few months, defeated all old exchanges, reaching the top of the global rankings.
Chapter Four: The Last Stop of 'Crypto Columbus': America.
'Crypto Columbus' CZ built his 'ship' (Binance) and conquered the vast ocean (global market), and now he had his eyes set on the legendary new land filled with gold—America.
However, for Binance, this 'new land' in America felt more like a 'minefield' filled with traps. The Americans' favorite tactics—strict KYC (real-name authentication), anti-money laundering, applying for various licenses—were seen by CZ as 'inhumane' shackles. He believed in code and freedom, not government lawyers.
Thus, a cat-and-mouse game lasting several years began.
Binance's strategy was simple and crude: first send a small team to establish a legal 'shell' company in a relatively friendly place like Wyoming, presenting a facade of 'we are compliant.'
Then, Binance's 'field troops' continued to conquer globally, with the main battlefield still being the unregulated 'Binance International' website.
Changpeng Zhao has honed the art of 'playing Tai Chi' to perfection. In the face of questioning from American lawmakers and the media, he sometimes claimed that Binance International had already moved out of Bermuda, and at other times claimed he had completely relinquished control over Binance International.
He had mastered the phrase 'We worked hard to comply, but the responsibility is not mine.'
He played this game for four years. As a result, Binance's size grew to a terrifying $300 billion, and his personal fortune once soared to the throne of the world's richest.
But everyone knew in their hearts that the crown was not securely placed. Just like he joked in the Telegram group: 'If I issue 90 billion coins at one dollar each, won't that make a valuation of 90 billion?' This self-deprecation revealed the absurdity of his wealth.
Chapter Five: All Costs Must Be Paid
In 2024, the cat-and-mouse game finally ended.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed their cards; they no longer believed in Changpeng Zhao's 'Tai Chi.' They presented him with the results of nearly two years of investigation, giving him an ultimatum: either pay a hefty fine or let your company completely disappear in the U.S.
Standing at the crossroads of life, this gambler CZ made his most complex 'all-in' decision.
He chose not to resist to the end but instead pleaded guilty.
He agreed to pay the U.S. government $4.3 billion—one of the largest fines ever borne by a company, enough to buy a small army of a country.
In exchange, he only needed to spend four months in a minimum-security prison in Seattle.
As soon as the news broke, Binance's coin price soared instead of falling.
The market voted with real money: they preferred a 'surviving' Binance rather than a 'fallen' tycoon.
The man who worked at a gas station, rose from Wall Street elite, and stirred up a storm in the crypto circle ultimately paid the price for his adventurous life in the form of being a prisoner.
The 'sky castle' of wealth he built with his own hands ultimately became just a faint shadow under the scorching sun of regulation.
When he was sent to Seattle in prison garb, did he remember that resolute afternoon in 2014 when he sold his house in Shanghai and that bold statement, 'If Bitcoin goes to zero, I'll lose a house'?
The legend ends, but the story goes on.
Only the protagonist CZ temporarily exited the stage.
Four months later, when he walked out of prison, what kind of new world would await him?
Chapter Six: Celebrations on the 'Ruins' Inside High Walls and Outside!
At the end of September 2024, when Changpeng Zhao, dressed in prison clothes, walked into the Seattle Federal Correctional Center, the attention of the entire world was focused on this 'rich prisoner.' What would he be doing inside?
The revelations from his cellmates and internet comedians painted a peculiar picture for us:
'CZ' became 'the common man's CZ': in prison, he could no longer command power under the identity of 'Binance CZ.' He was just a prisoner numbered 35201, dressed in a standard orange prison uniform.
'The miner' transitioned to 'psychologist': it is said that he used his thinking ability and calmness to often counsel other emotionally unstable prisoners, becoming the 'unofficial psychologist' inside!
Pocket money 'all-in': it is reported that he used a few dollars of pocket money each week to conduct 'trading analysis' on a type of corn chip called 'Tostitos' in the prison's 'convenience store.' He would observe the circulation speed and popularity of different flavors of chips among the prisoners, which has been humorously dubbed the 'alternative DeFi model behind high walls.'
Meanwhile, in the world outside the wall, Binance and the entire cryptocurrency circle were undergoing an unprecedented transformation in the 'post-CZ era.'
The once 'militarized' management model, where CZ's word could decide major decisions in the Telegram group, instantly became 'decentralized.'
Binance hired a group of heavyweight executives from traditional finance to form a compliance committee, beginning to align with Wall Street investment banks.
Everything changed, becoming more 'regulated' and 'professional,' but also... lacking a bit of madness and passion.
Binance's exchange business remains strong, but its 'halo' is fading.
CZ's departure seemed to have drained the soul of the empire. Users no longer believed in the 'never-make-mistakes' founder; they began to diversify their assets, looking for the next CZ.
Meanwhile, competitors like Coinbase and Kraken, who had been suppressed by CZ and Binance, welcomed historic opportunities, beginning to boldly promote their 'compliance genes' and the safety of 'founders being absent.'
Chapter Seven: Prison, or Exile? He chose the future.
Four months were but a blink of an eye for CZ, who once commanded the crypto world.
In January 2024, he walked out of the prison gates. What awaited him was not the spotlight and cheers, but the cold reality.
A U.S. court issued a strict order to him: after his release, he must leave the United States and never return permanently.
This meant that the Binance U.S. division he had personally built, valued at hundreds of billions, would forever be a place he could not step into again. The 'new land' that once brought him to the pinnacle of the world had now become a land of exile he could never set foot on.
Everyone thought he would choose to flee to cryptocurrency havens like Switzerland, Singapore, or Dubai, and then make a comeback, challenging his former self.
But CZ once again made an unexpected decision.
He announced on social media: 'I will be living in Turkey for the next few months. Ankara is beautiful, the food is great, and the people are very warm. It's peaceful here and great for thinking.'
He chose not to return to the financial center, but instead a vibrant country experiencing economic and political transformation.
He began learning Turkish, trying to integrate into local life, no longer the 'crypto circle leader,' but more like an ordinary middle-aged man seeking a new starting point in a foreign land.
Not long after, the White House (October 23) announced that President Trump had pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance cryptocurrency exchange.
On December 3, 2025, Binance announced a major piece of news: He Yi was appointed as Co-CEO, to lead the company together with Deng Weizheng.
This appointment was equivalent to officially confirming He Yi's position at Binance.
From behind the scenes to the forefront, from co-founder to co-CEO, He Yi finally stood in the spotlight while CZ officially retreated behind the scenes!
Final Chapter: Madman? Prophet? Or a microcosm of an era?
Changpeng Zhao's story is like an absurd fable.
He transformed from a 'madman' who sold his house to go all-in on Bitcoin into a 'tycoon' with a fortune of hundreds of billions.
He disrupted the traditional financial order with a 'utopian' model without a headquarters and employees.
He walked a tightrope in the gray area of global regulations, tangoing, and ultimately exchanged four months of 'house arrest' for the empire's survival.
10 years ago, CZ took a photo.
He was not a perfect hero and had even made mistakes.
But he is undoubtedly one of the most disruptive figures of this era.
His legend might be coming to an end. But the fire of decentralized financial freedom that he ignited still burns in every corner of the world.
He was like a modern 'digital pirate,' hijacking the wealth system of the old world, only to ultimately be backfired by his own waves and stranded on the beach.
When we look back at Changpeng Zhao's life, we see not only the success and failure of one person but also a microcosm of an era: an era filled with opportunities and chaos, innovation and greed, freedom and regulation in a violent collision.
And CZ was the most insane and also the most dazzling footnote of this era.
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This article's content is for sharing purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice.
