This Person Who Rose to the 11th Richest in the World Overnight Amid the Cryptocurrency Boom [News Inside]

Zhao Changpeng Binance Founder

▲Zhao Changpeng Binance Founder [Image Source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] There is a person who quickly rose to become the 11th richest person in the world riding the cryptocurrency boom.

He is Zhao Changpeng, the founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

On the 9th (local time), Bloomberg reported that Zhao Changpeng ranked as the 11th richest person in the world with a net worth of $96 billion (approximately 115 trillion KRW).

This surpasses Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and the richest person in Asia, whose net worth is $92.9 billion.

Bloomberg explained that this level is comparable to Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook (about $124 billion, 5th), Larry Page (about $122 billion, 6th), and Sergey Brin (about $118 billion, 7th), co-founders of Google.

Some argue that Zhao Changpeng's assets could potentially surpass those of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates.

According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, Zhao Changpeng's wealth increased by $21 billion last year, and he owns 90% of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Binance Coin surged an astonishing 1300% last year.

Bloomberg stated, "Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Binance Coin held by Zhao Changpeng were not included," adding, "Zhao Changpeng's wealth could be much greater than this valuation."

Although Zhao Changpeng appears to have become a billionaire overnight by luck, his life was not smooth.

Born in 1977 in Jiangsu Province, China, Zhao Changpeng is a Chinese-Canadian. Both of his parents were educators, and his father was a respected university professor. However, his father was expelled from China for political reasons shortly after Zhao's birth, and eventually, his family was forced to immigrate to Canada. Thus, in the late 1980s, he immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where from a young age he worked to support his family, selling hamburgers at McDonald's and working late nights at gas stations.

Zhao Changpeng majored in computer engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After graduating, he moved to Japan and began his career at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

He developed an order trading system at his first job and later developed futures trading programs at Bloomberg Trade.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Recognized for his abilities, he managed teams at stock exchanges located in New Jersey, USA; London, UK; and Tokyo, Japan. His career flourished, but in 2005 he suddenly returned to China. In 2013, while playing poker, he heard about Bitcoin from Bobby Lee, who founded China's first cryptocurrency exchange, and was advised to invest in Bitcoin. This was the turning point in his life.

From then on, Zhao Changpeng became obsessed with Bitcoin and sold all his assets to go all-in on Bitcoin.

He then joined Blockchain.info, a cryptocurrency wallet developer, as the third employee, later served as CTO of China's OKCoin exchange, and finally founded the cryptocurrency exchange 'Binance' in July 2017.

The process of founding Binance is interesting, but it is also noteworthy that he grew Binance in just six months.

Binance marketed itself as providing true value to cryptocurrency holders through low trading fees, and this strategy resonated with customers.

Currently, Binance is the third largest digital asset exchange in the world and the largest cryptocurrency exchange by number of members.

Although he became a billionaire, he is also known as a person who is not greedy for money.

CEO Zhao Changpeng stated, "I am financially free and do not need a lot of money to maintain my lifestyle," and added, "Like many wealthy entrepreneurs including the Rockefeller Foundation, I plan to donate 90-99% of my wealth."

In 2020, he was selected as one of the 'Bloomberg 50.' The Bloomberg 50 recognizes individuals who have shown remarkable achievements in business, entertainment, finance, politics, science, and technology during the year.

Other figures selected alongside Zhao Changpeng in the Bloomberg 50 include director Bong Joon-ho, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Morgan Stanley Chairman James Gorman, and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Director Jung Eun-kyeong.

Binance, which has passed through Japan and Malta and currently uses Singapore as its main base, has never officially established its headquarters in any specific country or region. Although it has not yet entered Korea, it has expressed intentions to expand into the Korean market.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.