Topics & People

The company in Tokyo where CZ had his pivotal internship, writing order execution software for brokers. The company was later acquired.

Algorithmic trading characterized by high speeds and high turnover rates.

A feature that CZ believes is currently lacking in Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies. He sees the lack of fungibility and privacy as a major hurdle for ubiquitous adoption.

The key North Star metric CZ focused on while running Binance, believing that value is created by serving more users, rather than optimizing for short-term revenue or profit.

An early Chinese Bitcoin exchange. Its CEO, Bobby Lee, was influential in convincing CZ to invest in Bitcoin.

A venture capitalist friend who, during a poker game, first introduced CZ to Bitcoin, sparking his interest in the technology.

Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering verification protocols.

CZ spent four months in a low-security federal prison as part of his sentence. He describes the experience, including the racial segregation and social structures within the system.

A university in Canada where CZ studied computer science, though he did not formally graduate, leaving for an internship that turned into a full-time job.

The city where CZ co-founded his first startup, an IT services firm, and where he first discovered and invested in Bitcoin.

A central theme in CZ's early life, moving from China to Canada post-Tiananmen Square, learning a new language, and his family working low-wage jobs, which shaped his work ethic and perspective.

The native cryptocurrency of the Binance ecosystem, initially launched through an ICO to fund the exchange. Its primary utility was offering trading fee discounts.