Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Become one of the richest people in the world because cryptocurrency (crypto assets) is not a dream. Changpeng Zhao is proof of his life. But he became the richest man not because of trading or being a crypto investor but because he owned the Binance crypto exchange platform.
Forbes calculates Changpeng Zhao’s fortune in 2022 at $65 billion, overtaking the fortunes of Michael Dell, founder of Dell and Charles Koch, founder of Koch Industries. Amazingly, he amassed this fortune from zero to US$65 billion in less than 5 years.
Binance is the largest crypto transaction platform in terms of transactions in the world today. This platform is already operating in more than 180 countries. Its valuation is estimated at US$92.5 billion.
Binance itself is officially registered on Cayman Island, a tax haven country. Changpeng Zhao is estimated to own at least 70% of Binance’s shares, as quoted by Forbes, Friday (4/8/2022).
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Photo: Changpeng Zhao, CEO and Founder of crypto exchange Binance AP/- – |
Binance itself has issued its own crypto coin called BNB. Initially BNB was used as a tool to get trade discounts, but has now developed into a complete cryptocurrency with various payment uses within the platform.
Binance itself also practices the burning process in BNB. It’s a way to control the amount in circulation so that its value doesn’t move wildly. CoinMarketCap estimates BNB to have a market cap of US$73 billion.
Changpeng Zhao admits to holding BNB but it is not clear how much so Forbes does not count the cryptocurrency holdings in his fortune. “I don’t really know what my net worth is. I don’t really care about that,” said Changpeng Zhao.
Changpeng Zhao himself is a programmer who built his own personal fortune. He was born in Jiangsu, China in 1977. But then the family moved to Canada due to political pressure on his father in China.
As a teenager living in exile, Changpeng Zhao works to help support his family. Starting from opening a burger at McDonald’s and working part time at a gas station. Then he completed his studies at McGill University in the field of computer science.
In 2013, Changpeng Zhao learned about Bitcoin from a venture capitalist with whom he played poker. He briefly worked for a crypto project but then bounced. In 2017 he founded Binance after raising $15 million.
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