Bloomberg first assessed the fortune of the creator of the crypto exchange Binance
Bloomberg estimated the fortune of the 44-year-old founder of the Binance crypto exchange, Changpeng Zhao, at $96 billion, which is more than that of Mukesh Ambani, who was considered the richest man in Asia.
NV-Business writes about this.
Bloomberg’s estimate does not take into account Zhao’s personal crypto holdings, including bitcoin and his firm’s own tokens, so his real net worth could be significantly higher. The so-called cryptocurrency Binance Coin has risen in price by about 1300% last year.
Expelled from China, where Binance was founded in 2017, the company is facing investigations from regulators around the world. In the US, the Department of Justice and the IRS are investigating whether Zhao-controlled Binance Holdings Ltd. channel for money laundering and tax evasion, Bloomberg writes, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to an analysis of trading volume and fees by Bloomberg, Binance generated at least $20 billion in revenue last year. By comparison, Wall Street analysts predict Coinbase Global’s 2021 revenue will be three times smaller.
Binance recently processed $170 billion worth of transactions in a single day. According to Zhao, on a calm day, the transaction volume is about $40 billion.
In an interview with the agency in November, when asked about his wealth, Zhao stated, “I don’t care about wealth, money, ratings.”
He also said that he welcomes the regulation of the crypto world. “I am not an anarchist. I do not believe that human civilization is advanced enough to live in a world without rules,” Zhao explained.
Changpeng Zhao is the richest crypto entrepreneur in the Bloomberg ranking of the richest people in the world. Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, is estimated by the agency at $45.8 billion, based on the fact that he may own 1.1 million bitcoins.
The founder of Binance is a Canadian citizen born in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. The family moved to Vancouver when he was 12 years old.
Zhao’s path to crypto wealth began in Shanghai in 2013 during a friendly poker game with Bobby Li, then CEO of BTC China, and investor Ron Cao, who encouraged him to invest 10% of his wealth in bitcoin.
