Changpeng Zhao
a.k.a. CZ
Founder and former chief executive of Binance, known across crypto simply as CZ.
In plain English
Founder and former chief executive of Binance, known across crypto simply as CZ.
Changpeng Zhao, almost always called CZ, founded Binance in 2017 and grew it within months into one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world. Before that he built trading systems and worked at other crypto companies.
In 2023 he pleaded guilty in the United States to failing to keep an effective anti-money-laundering program at Binance, stepped down as chief executive, and served a short prison sentence in 2024. He remains one of the most-watched figures in the industry.
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