In a recent in-depth interview, Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, shared a series of views on his personal wealth valuation, early investment logic, the current state of the industry ecosystem, and regulatory direction.
Regarding Forbes' estimate that his net worth exceeds $114 billion, Zhao offered a correction. He stated that this valuation is clearly inflated, and his actual asset scale is roughly in the range of $10 billion to $30 billion. In his view, wealth has diminishing marginal utility 鈥?just $10 million is enough to support a comfortable daily life, and wealth beyond that amount has limited significance for improving one's personal quality of life.
Looking back at the starting point of his personal investments, Zhao disclosed in the interview that in 2013, he first heard about Bitcoin at a card game in Shanghai. After several months of research, he sold a three-bedroom apartment in Shanghai and put the entire $900,000 proceeds from the sale into Bitcoin. At the time, he judged that Bitcoin represented borderless financial technology and aligned with the long-term trend of cross-border finance. Even if the investment failed, he would still be able to regain a high-paying job in traditional finance.
The interview mentioned MGX's $2 billion investment deal in Binance, which valued Binance at $75 billion. Zhao originally hoped the deal would be settled in Bitcoin, but the UAE investor was concerned about the transaction risks brought by Bitcoin's sharp price fluctuations and preferred to complete payment using stablecoins. There had been market reports that Binance designated the then-unverified USD1 stablecoin for settlement, which Zhao denied, saying the choice was made independently by MGX. He expressed his view on stablecoins: as long as a stablecoin has good credibility and will not go to zero overnight, he would not dwell too much on the specific type.
On the corporate governance level, Zhao emphasized that he no longer participates in Binance's daily operations and management and is only a passive shareholder. Regarding Binance's earlier lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, Zhao said bluntly that the litigation was enormously costly, and even if Binance won, it would be difficult to obtain substantial gains, making it an unnecessary drain. Binance later withdrew the lawsuit.
The interview also mentioned the memoir he is writing. In the book, he uses a page and a half to explain his views on "simulation theory." He believes humans may be living in a simulated reality constructed by other beings and thinks this conjecture is mathematically possible. He writes in the book that in 20 years, humanity may achieve technology similar to The Matrix, directly connecting to a complete virtual simulation, at which point billions of simulated worlds will be born. This understanding also makes him more detached when facing real-world pressure. He likens humans to Super Mario, running through artificially constructed scenes.
Zhao currently resides in Abu Dhabi. He plans to invest all proceeds from the memoir into public welfare education projects and carry out free online education.
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