​Binance CEO enters the top three richest people in finance

What’s new? Crypto exchange Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) entered the list of the 25 richest financial entrepreneurs according to Bloomberg. He is in third place with a fortune of $28,2 billion, behind Kenneth Griffin, CEO of hedge fund and market maker Citadel Securities ($35 billion), and Jeff Yass, managing director of trading firm Susquehanna ($33,1 billion). In this, according to Forbes estimates the state of CZ is only $10,5 billion.

Material on the Bloomberg website

What else is known? According to Bloomberg, most of Zhao’s $28,2 billion was earned through Binance. Founded in 2017, Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world by trading volume. As of April 5, its annual revenue was estimated by Bloomberg analysts at $12 billion. The platform controls more than 50% of the market and has more than 120 million users.

Prior to founding Binance, Zhao worked on trading systems and was introduced to bitcoin by crypto entrepreneur Bobby Lee while playing poker together in Shanghai, according to reporters.

Bloomberg also highlighted that after the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, which journalists called a “rival” of Binance, the latter faces increased pressure from regulators. Thus, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused the platform of providing commodity derivatives trading services to Americans and failing to comply with their identification requirements in order to maximize their own profits.

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On March 29, reporters said that Binance continued to operate in China until at least the end of 2019, despite management’s statements about leaving the country in 2017.

Zhao himself has already denied the information published by Bloomberg. The entrepreneur stated that he does not “have anywhere near as much.” He also wrote that he never considered FTX as a rival, adding that Binance welcomes “more (well run) exchanges in the space.”

4Numbers all wrong. I don't have anywhere near as much. Don't know why they do this. 🤷‍♂️Also, never viewed FTX as a rival. We welcome more (well run) exchanges in the space. pic.twitter.com/xfa31RZp7t — CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) April 27, 2023

On March 31, law firms Moskowitz and Boies Schiller Flexner accused Binance, Zhao, and a number of Influencers of promoting and selling unregistered securities, demanding $1 billion in compensation.