According to the daily Bloomberg billionaires index update, Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO, known as Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, was named the 12th wealthiest person, globally.
CZ, as he is known to cryptophiles, is worth $96 billion above Mukesh Ambani, the Indian tycoon whose worth is currently $92.9 billion, and below Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, and others as of January 9, 2022.
CZ’s fast growth to become one of the wealthiest billionaires is a sign that digital currency is widely gaining acceptance in the world. He attained his position amongst other businessmen just 5 years after launching Binance in July 2017.
CZ, a 44-year-old Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur, was born in China and was raised and educated in Canada. He has Canadian citizenship and studied computer science at McGill University.
After graduating from the university, CZ worked for Tokyo Stock Exchange as a subcontractor developing software to match trade orders. After that, he worked for Bloomberg Tradebook for four years as a futures trading software developer.
CZ decided to sell his apartment to fully go into the Binance business after learning about bitcoin in 2013, during a poker game.
CZ is a Crypto founder and a previous member of the team that developed Blockchain.
This is his first time on the list, and yet, he surpassed some businessmen who were already on the billionaire’s list before.
Binance does not have any headquarters, yet it grows. They are planning their global headquarters in France, Dubai, or Abu Dhabi.
CZ told Laura Shin, a podcast host, during the ConsenSys’ Ethereal Summit in May 2020 that neither bitcoin nor Binance has an office. “Wherever I sit, is going to be the Binance office.”
CZ works for money in order to help the poor. He tweeted on January 10, 2022, “Don’t worry about rankings. Focus on how many people you can help.”
CZ tweeted again on January 11, 2022. “Unpopular opinion: instead of wealth rankings, there should be a ranking of charity and philanthropy efforts.”
A Binance representative said CZ intends to give away 99% of his wealth, just like other entrepreneurs like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, and Bill and Melinda Gates.
CZ has been popular in the United Arab Emirates, and he has met royalty in Abu Dhabi who are eager to bring this Binance exchange to their country.
Information was obtained from authentic sources, that CZ is the most prominent person in cryptocurrency. He has an apartment in Dubai and has hosted dinners near the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and on the city’s Palm Jumeirah Island.
Binance generates income daily with $170 billion of transactions in just 24 hours and generates about $40 billion in a slow day. According to Bloomberg analysis, Binance generated at least $20 billion in revenue in 2021.
There is no business without setbacks, however, and the major setback affecting Binance is regulation. Binance has been the principal subject of consumer warnings in the U.K., Japan, Germany, and other countries.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service are investigating Binance Holdings Ltd’s practices for money laundering and tax evasion.
A spokesman for Binance said, “we are working with regulators around the world, and we take our compliance obligations very seriously.”
CZ also stated in Bloomberg that he welcomes and wants regulation. “I am not an anarchist; I don’t believe human civilization is advanced enough to live in a world without rules.”
Another aspect of cryptocurrency’s setback is its fluctuating fortune. It can easily slump anytime. For example, in 2021, bitcoin slumped at an 11% rate.
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In the future, Binance is trying to get an operating license to maintain its global presence and be stable from any regulatory shake, like that from 2021.
