Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the magnate behind the leading cryptocurrency platform Binance, has joined the ranks of the planet’s most affluent individuals. With a staggering fortune of $96.5 billion, Zhao’s financial prowess has even eclipsed that of renowned Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, positioning him prominently on the global billionaire index due to the colossal transaction volumes handled by his exchange in recent times.
The platform witnesses daily trading volumes that can peak at an astounding $170 billion on an active day, only to taper to a still impressive $40 billion on slower days. These figures highlight the burgeoning demand and active participation in the cryptocurrency trading landscape.
Zhao, who has become an iconic figure in the crypto industry, maintains a nonchalant attitude towards his financial status. When probed about his fortune, he expressed indifference towards monetary metrics and ranks, articulating a pledge to donate 99 percent of his wealth to charitable causes.
His intentions to part with his earnings before his death carve a notable distinction from other affluent individuals. Nonetheless, Zhao is not alone in this philanthropic mindset—some contemporary founders and business innovators are on a similar trajectory, though they are few and far between.
Despite the triumph, Zhao harbors concerns over Binance’s meteoric expansion. The exchange is under scrutiny from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission due to allegations of market manipulation that need to be addressed earnestly.
Due to the involvement of U.S. traders, regulatory bodies like the CFTC are eager to investigate legal implications and pinpoint any irregularities within Binance’s operations.
A firm believer in regulations, Zhao himself has voiced the necessity of structure during a Bloomberg forum. He reasoned that a societal framework without laws is not yet viable.
On another front, the market for digital tokens has seen its valuation soar, rocketing from $135 billion three years past to a phenomenal $2.09 trillion as of January 7. Providing transparency in valuation, exchanges like Gemini, Kraken, and Coinbase have become battlegrounds for investors vying to allocate extensive capital, with Binance standing tall as a leader in capital attraction.
However, the crypto wealth landscape is inherently subject to fluctuations. Bitcoin’s value, for instance, took a dip exceeding 11%, falling to the vicinity of $41,000 recently—a stark contrast from its almost $69,000 peak in November. Concurrently, Coinbase’s stock also experienced a 35% decline over the past months.
Making sense of Binance’s 2021 revenue, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index referenced U.S. dollar-based spot and derivatives exchange volumes, courtesy of industry analysts Nomics and Coingecko. Still, such reckoning omits technological facets, margin lending, and the burgeoning NFT sector.
Estimations suggest Zhao, one of Bloomberg’s wealthiest, claims ownership of nearly 90% of Binance—a corporation continually drawing investors and prospering. Zhao humorously notes the futility in pegging cryptocurrency values to a constant, with the volatile nature of the market ensuring that any figure is merely momentary.
The certainty that emerges from these observations is Zhao’s possession of a vast fortune, with the potential to expand if Binance’s trajectory sustains its upward climb.
