CZ (Changpeng Zhao)
Built the world's biggest exchange. Tweeted four characters. Killed FTX.
Known For
Founder of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. His single tweet helped trigger FTX's collapse.
Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, founded Binance in 2017 and built it into the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume. He became one of the most powerful people in crypto — and in November 2022, he became perhaps the most consequential. After CoinDesk revealed that Alameda Research's balance sheet was propped up by FTX's own FTT token, CZ announced on Twitter that Binance would liquidate its FTT holdings. This triggered the bank run that destroyed FTX in days. His cryptic "4" tweet (widely interpreted as a reference to his fourth rule: "never fight") became one of the most analyzed single characters in crypto history. But CZ had his own reckoning — in November 2023, he pled guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws and stepped down as Binance CEO. He served four months in prison in 2024 and was released. He remains one of crypto's most influential figures, though his public role has shifted.
