I think first of all, I'm just an ordinary person. I know I'm not particularly smart, but you don't need to be particularly smart to succeed.

Article by: The All-in Podcast

Article source: Wu Blockchain Blockchain

This article is based on an interview with CZ on The All-in Podcast, and has been significantly edited. The content does not represent the views of Wu Blockchain.

CZ's Immigration Experience and Growth

My father went to Canada to study in 1984. He spent most of his time there, visiting us about once or twice a year. Initially, he went to the University of Toronto on an exchange program, and a few years later he moved to the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, where he has remained ever since. We also began applying for immigration, but obtaining a passport was extremely difficult at that time, typically taking three to four years. We started our application around 1985 and it took us two or three years to get our passports. After obtaining them, the visa application process took several more years; the whole process was very lengthy.

Moving to Vancouver was a completely new experience. I had studied English for a few years, but it wasn't fluent. Vancouver has left a deep impression on me. The green spaces and open areas are breathtaking, the standard of living is high, the surroundings are very clean, and the fruit trees are huge. In short, it's a very pleasant place.

At the time, my father was an assistant professor at a university, earning about 1,000 Canadian dollars a month. He lived in low-cost housing provided to faculty and staff at UBC, and we lived on campus. My mother went to work in a sewing factory on the third day after we arrived in Canada, making clothes. She had been a math and history teacher in China, but because her English wasn't very good, she couldn't find a job of equal skill level and could only do low-paying factory work, which she did for seven to ten years.

I started my first job when I was about 14 years old, at McDonald's. At that time, the minimum wage in Canada was $6, but McDonald's only paid $4.50, which was below the minimum wage because McDonald's had a special exemption clause, and many young people worked there.

I developed an interest in programming in high school and began studying computer science. While I'm not a programming genius, nor am I one of those super-smart programmers, I consider myself a decent programmer and have written some good code. Around the age of 28 to 30, I began to leave programming and move into more business development and sales work. Since then, my career has changed significantly, and I've spent about eight years in those roles.

Studying and living in Canada taught me to adapt. I have many friends, not only Asian but also many non-Asian. Although most Asians stick together at school, I'm an exception; I also have many white friends from diverse backgrounds. My teenage years in Canada were wonderful, one of the best times of my life. Those years truly shaped me and made me a happy person, and overall, I've always been a happy person.

CZ's early education and career transition

When I was choosing a university, I considered the University of Waterloo, McGill University, and the University of Toronto. I knew I didn't want to go to UBC (University of British Columbia) because I wanted to be in a different city. In fact, UBC did offer me a place, but I already knew at that time that I didn't want to go there.

I once heard the mother of a friend I greatly respected say, "You should probably become a doctor, because doctors have a good life and good pay." I took her advice and started studying biology. Waterloo wasn't particularly good at biology, so I chose McGill University instead. However, after about a semester, I decided not to study biology and transferred to computer science.

During my university years, I worked every summer. I also did part-time jobs during the academic year. Fortunately, I didn't have any student loans. In my first year, I borrowed 6,000 Canadian dollars from my father, and in my second year, I still owed some money, so my sister gave me 3,000 Canadian dollars. Since then, I haven't asked my family for money again; I've been completely self-sufficient. So, not having student loans is really lucky.

McGill University's tuition is relatively high for international students, but it's still cheaper compared to the US. I think that's crazy. Combined with the relatively low tuition fees in Canada, we're really lucky.

I didn't graduate from McGill. I stayed at McGill for four years; in my third year I got an internship, and in my fourth year I got a job offer. My internship was later extended, so I didn't return to McGill. Later, I discovered that I needed a bachelor's degree to apply for a work visa to Japan. So, I enrolled in an online education program and obtained the degree.

In Tokyo, I landed an internship and started working in programming. I was at a company called Original SIM, writing simulation software. After that, I went to Fusion Systems Japan to develop order execution systems for stockbrokerage firms in Tokyo. When I first arrived in Tokyo, I felt like a dream come true.

The projects I participated in primarily involved order fulfillment software. Although these projects didn't have decision-making capabilities, the company quickly shifted its focus to the order fulfillment system, and this project became a core part of my career. I enjoyed this project because it required a lot of technical expertise, and all the work was related to efficiency—doing things as quickly as possible and minimizing delays. This pursuit of efficiency attracted me, and I naturally aspired to be efficient myself.

Entrepreneurial experience from Wall Street to Shanghai

In early 2005, I was discussing with some friends I'd met in Japan their plan to start a new fintech company in Asia. We considered Tokyo, Shanghai, or Hong Kong as potential locations. We thought Shanghai might be the hottest place for fintech in the future, so we decided on Shanghai, although it later turned out that Hong Kong actually offered more business opportunities. At that time, our team consisted of six people, five of whom were foreigners (four white and one Japanese), and I was the only one who could speak Chinese. Although my Chinese was a bit rusty at the time, the six of us went to Shanghai together to start a new IT startup.

Our idea was to bring Wall Street trading technology to China, serving Chinese brokers and exchanges. Two of my friends and I were in New York, and three other friends were in Japan. We joined forces and rented a very luxurious office. Our shareholding structure was unequal; the person at the top owned about 39% to 40% of the shares, and the remaining five people split it equally, roughly 11% each. At the time, I didn't understand shareholder rights, terms, or concepts like preferred and common stock. I only knew I had 11% of the shares, and then I went to Shanghai. I wasn't too concerned about the details then; after all, I was a junior partner in the team.

After arriving in China, since I speak Chinese, I started contacting potential clients and talking to brokers. However, we discovered that although we were registered as a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE), Chinese brokers and financial institutions cannot cooperate with WFOEs. We then realized we had made a huge mistake. So we transformed our business, developing other IT systems and providing customized services to companies in various industries – essentially doing "contracting."

Our business scope is broad, and we've done many different projects. We even help repair printers or provide SAP implementation services for companies. We've been doing these odd jobs for several years, and although we haven't made a lot of money, we've made a living from them.

Initially, we acquired many clients in the automotive industry, such as Shanghai GM, Shanghai Volkswagen, and Shanghai FAW Group. About three or four years later, we opened an office in Hong Kong and began collaborating with companies like Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse.

The company gradually developed and became a success. I left the company in 2013 after eight years, but the company still exists. I spent most of my time in Shanghai, but I also spent considerable time helping to set up the Hong Kong office. I did a lot of customer service-related work.

Eventually, the company had around 200 people, and has maintained that size ever since. As a junior partner, I didn't take much profit; most of my savings were invested back into the company, and I didn't even withdraw a single penny. However, after several years of hard work, the company stabilized, was able to pay the partners' salaries, and all our children were able to attend international schools.

At that time, I was already married. I met my ex-wife in 1999 when I was doing an internship in Tokyo. Later, she came to visit me in New York, and we got married and had children. We are now separated. In Shanghai, my salary was enough to cover my child's international school tuition, which was sufficient for me.

It was 2013, and I was 36 years old.

From curiosity about Bitcoin to entrepreneurial determination

In 2013, I came across Bitcoin. A friend told me to take a look at it. At that time, the Bitcoin white paper was only nine pages long, and such concise writing is much more difficult than technical content. Anyone who tried to rewrite the white paper would probably end up with 90 pages.

The person who showed me Bitcoin was a friend of mine, Ron Cao. We didn't work together, but he was working at Light Speed ​​Ventures at the time as the Managing Director for China. We used to play poker together often, though it was just small stakes, but it was a game between entrepreneurs and VCs, and the atmosphere was relaxed and fun. Ron Cao once said to me, "CZ, you should look into Bitcoin." I thought that sounded very interesting. Then, Bobby Lee—who was working at Walmart at the time—was about to quit his job to join BTCC as CEO. As part of the deal, Bobby said he would bring Ron Cao in as an investor, and Light Speed ​​would also be involved.

They were both very serious. So, in July 2013, I had lunch with Bobby, and he told me, "Invest 10% of your net worth in Bitcoin. There's a small chance it will go to zero, but there's a much higher probability that Bitcoin will increase tenfold, and your wealth will double." I thought, "Hmm, that sounds reasonable." So, I started reading the Bitcoin white paper more carefully, spending six months on it. By the end of 2013, I completely understood it. The future of Bitcoin excited me greatly, and I decided to enter this field.

However, the price of Bitcoin surged from $70 in mid-2013 to $1,000 by the end of the year. At that time, I felt I had entered the market too late; I should have gotten in earlier. Everyone was saying they had entered the Bitcoin market much earlier. Of course, no matter when you enter the Bitcoin market, you always feel like you're a step too late.

There's a small community in Shanghai where I chat with people from all over the world who are willing to exchange ideas; Bitcoin miners are also my friends. Back then, I knew a few friends in Taiwan who had worked at TSMC and were also trying to make Bitcoin mining machines. Later, they quit their jobs at TSMC to start this business, but the company didn't really succeed. Besides them, I had another friend, known as "Shenyu," who is now one of the founders of F2Pool. They were in Hangzhou at the time, and I talked to them when I went to Shanghai.

In December 2013, I attended the Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas. Almost everyone in the Bitcoin industry was there; the conference had about 200 people, including Vitalik Buterin (founder of Ethereum) and Charlie Lee (founder of Litecoin). At the conference, everyone was discussing the future of Bitcoin. At that time, the Silk Road incident had just happened, and the media began to link Bitcoin with drug trafficking. But at the conference, everyone was young, many were geeks, and they were all very nice people. My conversation with Vitalik also deeply impressed me with his excellence and sincerity.

Back at the office, I told my partners we should build a Bitcoin payment system. At the time, the largest Bitcoin payment company was Bitpay, which had just raised $4 million in 2013. I felt we could do something similar.

I probably only had 1 Bitcoin at the time, because the price of Bitcoin was around $1,000.

Entering the Bitcoin Industry and Starting a Business

In 2013, I knew I had to dedicate myself to the Bitcoin industry. At the time, I felt there were three core technologies in life: first, the internet, which I was too young to grasp at that time; second, Bitcoin; and third, AI. I was already 36 years old and didn't want to miss out on Bitcoin technology. So, I decided to quit my job and work in the Bitcoin industry.

To raise funds, I decided to sell my apartment in Shanghai and use the money to buy Bitcoin. The process of selling the apartment took several months, and I eventually sold it for about $900,000. Then I started gradually buying Bitcoin. At that time, the price of Bitcoin dropped from $800 to $600, then $400, and I ended up averaging $600 per unit. Although I was looking for a job in the Bitcoin industry, I was absolutely certain that this was the industry I wanted to join.

I quickly found a job. From deciding to quit my job to finally finding one, it only took about two to three weeks. Initially, I discussed it with Bobby at BTCC, who wanted to hire me, but later Blockchain.info approached me, so I joined them. At that time, Blockchain.info only had three people, and I was the third. Ben Reeves was the founder, Nicholas Cary was the CEO, and I was the VP of Technology.

However, the experience wasn't smooth sailing. The company wasn't developing as expected, and we expanded the team to 18 people. Then Peter Smith joined as CFO, wanting to raise funds for Blockchain.info. At the time, Coinbase had just completed a funding round, raising $30 million, which was attracting a lot of attention in the industry. Peter successfully promoted himself to CEO through various means, and promoted Nicholas Cary to the position of product manager. The company culture changed, and I felt that this change was no longer a good fit for me, so I left. Ben Reeves also sold a significant portion of his shares and left a few months later. Although the experience was short, I learned a lot, especially in marketing and team management.

After leaving, I found a job at OKCoin, joining as CTO. At the time, BTCC offered me a 10% stake, and OKCoin matched that offer within three hours. I hesitated between Shanghai and Beijing, ultimately deciding to join OKCoin in Beijing, becoming a key partner in the business. Although my time at OKCoin was short, I stayed there for about eight months. Due to cultural differences, particularly differing opinions on some promotional activities and fee discounts, I ultimately decided to leave in early 2015.

In 2015, a few former colleagues and I decided to establish a Bitcoin exchange in Tokyo, a year after the Mt. Gox incident. We saw this as an opportunity to fill a vacuum in the Japanese market.

On the day I decided to leave OKCoin, two developers approached me; they had also just resigned from their respective jobs. I thought to myself, why don't the three of us do something together? So we decided that I would become CEO, taking on more shares and being responsible for fundraising. To ensure the team's smooth operation, I used my own savings to pay their salaries, while I didn't take a salary myself.

The three of us quickly created a demo to showcase our ideas. We downloaded an open-source exchange software and made simple modifications to the interface to make it more appealing.

At the time, we didn't explicitly say it was Binance; we were very transparent in telling everyone that our demo didn't represent the final product, but rather was more like a proof of concept. We also wrote a script to scrape market data from Bitfinex, because Bitfinex was one of the largest exchanges at the time. We replicated their order book and updated the order book data in real time, making our demo appear very active. Investors thought the technology was very cool. Moreover, I could answer their questions in depth, not just by showing the demo. When they asked me how to build an efficient exchange, I could explain in detail technical details such as memory matching.

Investors were very impressed with our technology, but they also raised a question: "You definitely can't run a Bitcoin exchange in Japan, since you don't speak Japanese." I thought they had a point, so I decided to sell our technology to other exchanges, because at the time, most Japanese exchanges didn't have very advanced technology. I negotiated with several exchanges, and after two weeks of communication, we finally signed a contract with one of them, earning $360,000. They paid a $180,000 deposit, and the remaining amount was enough to stop me from worrying about paying salaries.

So, we shifted from our original plan to open a Bitcoin exchange to becoming a supplier of exchange systems. We started focusing on selling software. By July 2015, some Chinese companies had also approached us, expressing that they also needed our system.

I think most people idealize entrepreneurship, believing it's a quick path to success, like the Facebook story—starting casually in college and suddenly having millions of users. It's true that companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google all began in college garages. However, for startups in the financial industry or cryptocurrency, entrepreneurship is more of a continuous struggle, a process of sustained effort.

At the time, we were primarily focused on licensing software, and our business was thriving, with a steadily increasing client base. We provided system services to over 30 exchanges. After two years of hard work, we signed numerous contracts, and our business gradually stabilized. Our model resembled a SaaS business, which we called "Exchange as a Service." We charged a fixed monthly fee, and each new client added to our revenue. Overall, this business model was very successful.

However, in March 2017, the Chinese government shut down most of our clients' accounts. Since we were merely a software vendor and not directly involved in any transactional business, our revenue was impacted when our clients lost business. By May, we realized we had to transform our business.

Initially, we wanted to continue with an exchange, but as things developed, we realized this might not be feasible. Later, three members of the team proposed creating a clone of Poloniex, which was the largest exchange at the time. I agreed and decided to invest in the project. However, three days later, they changed their minds and proposed creating an on-chain trading platform. I refused and decided to discontinue the project.

So I made a new suggestion: "Why not create a cryptocurrency exchange? We already have an exchange system; we just need to customize it to enable cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency trading." After discussion, we decided to shift our focus from developing an exchange system to creating a cryptocurrency exchange.

At that time, our team had about 20 people. Although we had technical staff, we lacked marketing personnel because our previous business was a B2B model. The team consisted of only two salespeople and myself. Ultimately, we decided to launch our own cryptocurrency exchange, embarking on a new entrepreneurial journey.

Binance's Start-up and Transformation

At the time, I was working at Blockchain Information, and I already had some reputation. Blockchain Information was one of the most popular platforms at the time, and I had also served as the CTO of OKCoin. I was very active on social media, especially in non-Chinese and non-English speaking markets. No one else was doing this back then, so I had some reputation within the community. Being an early entrant into the industry had its advantages; I attended a few conferences, with maybe 200 people attending each. The first time, nobody knew me; the second time, people started to recognize me; and the third time, everyone knew who I was. This allowed me to build some influence.

This is where Binance started.

To be honest, even today, I'm not entirely sure who the buyers were for that BNB sale. I think, demographically speaking, about 80% to 90% of the buyers were Chinese, with some international buyers as well. According to the data, approximately 20,000 people participated. Therefore, this was a completely new brand for us, but many people in the industry knew me.

China issued a ban on cryptocurrency exchanges in September 2017. Even if we cut off 30% of our Chinese users, we could still survive, and perhaps even thrive. So, we decided to move the company to Tokyo.

Tokyo wasn't unfamiliar to me. Although my Japanese wasn't fluent at the time, I was able to have simple conversations with taxi drivers, order food, and learn about Japanese culture and life in Tokyo. It wasn't difficult for me.

The team consisted of about 30 people, and we all moved to Tokyo together. At the time, most of the team members were unmarried and had no children, so the move was relatively simple for them. I remember one girl was sad because her boyfriend was still in China, but she eventually moved to Tokyo with us anyway. Overall, the team moved smoothly.

Our business continued to grow even after the Chinese government issued the ban. Binance's token price dropped 30% to 40% after its launch, taking about three weeks to gradually recover. The cryptocurrency market was still hot when the product was launched. I believe we found a product-market fit. In fact, Binance wasn't a completely new idea; it was just a cryptocurrency exchange.

When we launched, even just by visual observation, Binance's transaction speed was noticeably faster than our competitors. Our exchange system performed exceptionally well. At that time, Poloniex and Bittrex were our biggest competitors, along with Chinese exchanges like Huobi and OKCoin, and Western competitors like Coinbase. Gemini didn't exist yet; it appeared later. Bitstamp and Bitfinex were also among the competitors.

From an ordinary person to a Forbes cover star

The feeling of success can sometimes feel unreal. You often ask yourself, "Is this real?" But it's also wonderful. Once, I asked my team, "How much revenue are we making?" She told me several hundred bitcoins. I couldn't believe it. I thought, "My God, how could we possibly make so much?" We almost doubted whether we had miscalculated, thinking it should be at least an order of magnitude off. But after confirming it several times, we realized it was indeed correct—it was simply insane.

At that time, the price of BNB fluctuated, dropping from 10 cents to 6 cents. Later, the token price rebounded. For the next few weeks, the token price increased by 20% every day I woke up; it was the same price before the meeting, and it increased by another 20% after the meeting. Even when I went to the bathroom and came back, the price had increased again.

At the time, I didn't immediately feel the arrival of wealth. The real feeling came in early 2018, about six or seven months later, when I was chosen as a cover figure by Forbes. That's when I began to realize, "Wow, so that's how it is."

Regarding the cover star, I don't really know much about it. Forbes was doing a special issue on cryptocurrency at the time, and they interviewed many people in the industry. Forbes had already taken a picture of Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, whose gestures looked really cool. So, they contacted our PR team. My PR team at the time consisted of several women, and they told me, "Forbes wants to do a feature article and take some photos." I hesitated for a moment and told them, "I'm not really keen on going." But they said, "We're a new brand, and Forbes exposure will help us increase our brand awareness." So I agreed to the photoshoot. It was my first time taking photos and my first time wearing makeup.

By 40, money was important to me, but it wasn't everything. I no longer thought about sports cars and big parties like I did when I was younger; as I got older, my personality became more stable. After experiencing so much, I no longer get overly excited about anything. Another reason is that from just becoming financially secure to becoming a Forbes cover figure, I didn't feel any change. Even with more money in my wallet, I didn't feel a significant difference. Although people often say, "You're probably a billionaire now," I didn't really feel it myself. Even a month ago, I was still booking an economy class ticket to Tokyo, and it was my team who reminded me, "Upgrade to business class so you can lie down and sleep." That's when I realized that a person's spending habits don't automatically change with wealth.

When someone gradually earns money, from one million to ten million, you might want to buy a cool car; from two million to twenty million, you might want to buy a yacht or something else. I didn't go through this gradual process; I went directly from an ordinary person to a Forbes cover figure. Therefore, I didn't develop many of those kinds of consumption habits.

Being a billionaire doesn't mean much to me. I think money has two meanings. First, you have to take care of yourself; you need food and shelter. You don't need a lot of money; you just need to meet your basic needs. So I certainly have a comfortable life, but it's not luxurious; just enough to meet my needs.

Look at my house. The living room leaks about once a month because it's old. But this is the size I need; it meets my requirements. It's not particularly luxurious, and we just fix the leaks. About a month ago, the pipes leaked again. So, although people think I live in a luxurious house, I actually live in a decent old house. It's not big, but it's big enough for my family. And its location is great, meeting my needs. As long as it fulfills my functional requirements, I'm fine.

I prioritize functionality. If it works, that's fine with me. I don't care about luxury, style, color, or decorative gold ornaments. As long as it solves the problem, that's enough.

I've never felt insecure. I know my weaknesses and have learned to live with them. I don't consider myself arrogant, I hope I'm not an arrogant person, and I don't think I am arrogant myself. I'm very calm. Others might experience emotional fluctuations: happiness, sadness, grief, but my emotional fluctuations are relatively small.

I don't consider myself addicted to growth, but I am definitely addicted to my work. The work itself is incredibly fulfilling and truly rewarding. Every day, I have over 20 meetings, scheduled conference calls, and all sorts of other miscellaneous tasks, in addition to responding to messages on Twitter. Although it's busy, I do feel incredibly satisfied because the sense of accomplishment is hard to describe. It's not about money or growth, but a kind of inner fulfillment.

I think the most important thing at the time was that we were serving more users every day and providing them with value. Therefore, I believe the standard for a product's value is: people want to use it. As long as more and more people want to use it, even if your revenue is zero, you have value. Any product that is used by many people has greater value the more people use it.

This is the philosophy I've always held. You can optimize revenue and profits in the short term, but you might lose the opportunity for long-term growth. I believe that, in the long run, having a large user base on our platform creates value—not just for ourselves, but also for our users. People choose to use your platform because it brings them value.

The shift in security issues and response measures

I first became aware of the problem with criminals around New Year's Day 2018, about five or six months after we started. At that time, someone from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security contacted me with an email asking for our help in tracking down hackers who might have transferred funds and were possibly involved in the Ether Delta hack. Ether Delta is a decentralized exchange that was hacked in 2017.

At the time, I didn't know how to handle this situation; no one on the team had experience dealing with law enforcement. I consulted with some people about how to help. After verifying their identity, we provided the information they requested, and they expressed their gratitude. I also asked if he could recommend someone with law enforcement experience. He recommended someone, but that person was in the United States, and we didn't have a US company and couldn't hire an American, so ultimately we couldn't recruit them.

At that point, I truly realized that we needed someone with law enforcement experience. So, we decided to hire more people like that.

Facing government accusations and regulatory shifts

Regarding the Biden administration's accusations that organizations like Hamas are using Binance and that we haven't done enough regulation, I may have some legal limitations on this; there are limits to what I can and cannot say. While I'm not a lawyer, I try to avoid this topic. However, overall, I can say that the Biden administration was indeed quite hostile towards cryptocurrencies; they openly declared a "war" on them. But seeing the new administration make a 180-degree turn, I think this is good for the US and the world. So, I won't blame the previous administration, but clearly they didn't understand cryptocurrencies.

Why are they so hostile to cryptocurrencies? It stems from a fear of new things. I think they may believe that the existing financial and banking systems cannot be disrupted. They may have been heavily influenced by lobbying within these industries, affecting their thinking. This is a natural human reaction, though not ideal, it's understandable.

We opened our US office in 2019. That year, the US government's scrutiny of Binance became much more apparent. I remember some news about Binance at the time, especially reports about BitMEX and Bitfinex. The government even froze $600 million to $800 million in assets, while these companies had a market capitalization of only about $4 billion at the time—a considerable sum. Later, they were also sued by the US government for not having sufficient reserves.

Seeing these news reports, we realized the US government was starting to pay attention to this industry, so we decided to register a US company. Many of our friends, with legal backgrounds, advised us to enter the US market by registering a company and operating legally. Therefore, in 2019, we registered a US company, established an independent legal entity, and equipped it with an independent trading engine and liquidity. Binance US has been regulated from the very beginning.

Cooperation and competition with FTX, responding to rumors

With the rise of SBF and FTX, the situation began to change. We had invested in FTX, initially holding a 20% stake, but exited after a year and did not stay for long.

In January 2019, I attended a Binance conference in Singapore. I remember FTX hadn't been established yet, and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was still running Alameda Research. They hosted a VIP party at the aquarium in Sentosa, Singapore, where licensed divers were demonstrating cryptocurrency information. They were our VIP clients at the time, and we had a very good relationship.

Shortly after, they contacted us, proposing a partnership for a futures platform. Their revenue-sharing proposal was 60/40, with us taking the lion's share. I thought to myself, we have all the clients, they have nothing, so I even considered proposing a 95/50 split, but I felt that would be impolite, considering they were still our VIP clients. Therefore, we ultimately rejected their proposal.

Back then, Binance was still young and hadn't existed for many years like it does now. They stayed with us for six months to a year, I don't remember the exact time. Later, they came back with a better offer, saying, "We'll give you better terms." However, after a large-scale transaction, FTX offered us a 20% stake in exchange for BNB and FTT tokens, and we received early FTT tokens. At the time, BNB tokens had better liquidity, while FTT tokens had poorer liquidity.

But almost immediately after the deal was completed, I heard my friends say, "You know what, SBF started talking bad about us in Washington circles." I didn't think much of it at the time.

However, they then did something troubling. They offered two VIP account managers five times their usual salary, and these account managers had access to our VIP database. One of them left to work for FTX. I thought, "If we match her salary, we'll have to raise everyone's salary five times." And she did go to work for FTX. The next day, after that girl started working at FTX, our VIP clients received calls telling them they could get better rates at FTX. I felt something was off, so I called SBF and asked if they could stop this practice; we were still their shareholders.

At this point, SBF also asked if I could participate in a roundtable forum together. I expressed my willingness to cooperate, saying, "No problem, we are investors and willing to help with promotion."

I did hope that multiple exchanges would succeed, because that way we wouldn't always be the target. So I maintained this cooperative attitude, but I kept hearing some unpleasant things behind the scenes. About a year later, in mid-2021, we decided to exit, even though they claimed to be raising funds at a valuation of $3.2 billion. According to the investment terms, we had a veto right over future funding rounds. If we wanted to stop them, we could.

I didn't want to use that power to stop them, thinking, "Even so, why not withdraw? We can still compete anyway." So we started talking about withdrawing and finalized the deal in July 2021.

This deal took place a year and a half before their problems surfaced. We had no idea what was going to happen.

Regarding FTX's bankruptcy, there are rumors that their problems began with our exit and that the two are somehow related, but this is absolutely not true. In fact, due to the competitive nature of the industry, although we were shareholders, I never requested their financial statements or got involved in their day-to-day operations. I am a very passive investor, so I didn't participate in their day-to-day operations when I invested. Although we are competitors, we have our own futures platform, and they have theirs. We focused on our own development and let them handle their own businesses.

Regarding the fairness of the entire FTX bankruptcy process, I don't fully understand it; there are many different accounts online. I also want to be frank with you that we currently have an ongoing lawsuit where FTX is trying to recover the funds we received when we withdrew our shares a year and a half ago. So, the information I can share on this is limited. However, based on what I've read, the current value of FTX's cryptocurrency, in USD terms, is sufficient to cover the compensation. If users had held cryptocurrency at the time, they should have received even more compensation, but I'm not entirely clear on the details.

Legal challenges and the pressure of negotiation

Following the FTX incident, Binance's relationship with the United States became complicated. The US government began requesting information from us, which we consistently cooperated with. By the end of 2022, the situation had become more hostile. Entering early 2023, we clearly felt that the situation had entered a critical negotiation phase: either reach some kind of agreement with the US government or face prosecution.

During this period, my legal team began to sense that we might be sued. Since I lacked a legal background, I had to rely on advice from others, which was often the most difficult part because I had never experienced anything like it. Nobody has ever been in this situation, and once you have, you never want to face it again. So, I assembled a team of lawyers, all highly specialized in their respective fields, but effectively organizing this team proved extremely challenging. We hired many expensive lawyers, each with different expertise and perspectives, who also wanted to dedicate more time to analysis because they charged by the hour. While they had no unethical intentions and wanted to do their best, their divergent analytical approaches led us into many different issues.

This was the most challenging part of my experience. If only someone could have told me, "These are the three things you need to focus on; this is your strategy," that would have been great. But we didn't have a strong legal team at the time. Our team was young, and the legal team lacked experience in handling such situations. Therefore, the whole process was very difficult. However, I learned how to manage this pressure, and I usually approach it by analyzing the best and worst-case scenarios. For example, I would ask the team, "What's the best-case scenario? We pay the fine, get a deferred prosecution agreement, and that's it." That's the best outcome. The worst-case scenario is that they might ask you to go to jail, or something similar might happen.

Many believe a suspended sentence is more likely, but that's one of the worst-case scenarios. I think another worst-case scenario is that if you disagree with the terms, you have to fight the government, and then you choose to remain in the UAE—a country without an extradition treaty. You've already obtained citizenship there, so extradition is virtually impossible. But your travel will be restricted. If you enter another country, even without an extradition treaty, it's still possible to reach some kind of agreement. This fear constantly haunts me.

This could also put a lot of pressure on the UAE government. I don't want to cause them trouble; they granted me citizenship, and I don't want to be a troublemaker. Therefore, the worst-case scenario is that they issue an arrest warrant and put me on a list like a red notice.

Negotiations like these take place almost daily, with the legal team on standby at all times, sometimes as many as 12 to 20 lawyers on call. This negotiation has lasted for over a year. Negotiating with the Biden administration's Department of Justice has been a long and challenging process.

What I heard most often from my lawyers was, “We have never encountered such a hostile attitude.” This was the sentence I heard most often throughout the entire process.

Difficult Choices and Psychological Games in Legal Negotiations

This matter definitely takes time to process. Several steps are particularly difficult, especially during negotiations, where you have to say "no." Sometimes, faced with their firm stance, we have no other choice but to resolutely say "no." That period is like a blank period; you have absolutely no idea what will happen. You could be prosecuted at any time. So you've refused, and they can choose to prosecute you at any time. That period is really tough; you need to adjust your mindset and prepare to accept a possible way of life—that you can no longer travel freely and can only live cautiously within one country. Even if you go to a non-extradition country, there is still a possibility of extradition under certain circumstances. This mental pressure is immense and extremely difficult.

I believe this is also a very effective negotiation strategy. During that two-week period of silence, the government knows you'll adapt to the situation. When they return to negotiate, you tell them, "I'm used to it." This psychological maneuvering is very sophisticated. For us, facing something like this for the first time is completely inexperienced; after all, it involves your entire life. If you have a red notice, it will stay with you for life. Therefore, they understand this perfectly well, and that two-week silence period is the most effective.

After several rounds of negotiations, we reached a basic agreement. I admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to register, which constitutes a federal crime. Although it is a serious charge, no one has ever been imprisoned for it in history.

I'll try to explain this process in my own words. First, I'm not a lawyer, so my understanding may not be entirely accurate. The first layer is a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, which essentially means we provided services to U.S. users without registering as a financial services company in the U.S.

The second issue is that our KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) procedures are inadequate. Although we are not registered, we should have certain KYC procedures in place, but these procedures are not in place. Many people think this is just a matter of black and white, but it is not. The key lies in how you implement these procedures, what systems you use, how you do it, and how many people are involved.

The third level of accusation is if you knew about and facilitated the illicit transaction. You might have a weak AML program that failed to catch all the perpetrators, but you were unaware of it. You didn't intentionally help; it was just a lack of adequate procedures. But I did, to some extent, allow this to happen.

There are even higher-level accusations that you were personally involved in handling these transactions. But in reality, I did not directly handle any transactions; that was not my responsibility.

So the government's first accusation was that we weren't registered, and the second was that our KYC and AML procedures were weak. We eventually reached an agreement on these two accusations, but the government tried to add two more accusations: they said I personally facilitated illicit transactions to some extent, but they didn't provide any evidence. These accusations were just speculation about what happened inside the company.

Ultimately, both enhanced charges were dismissed by the court. But before going to the United States, we had decided that if we had any disagreements, we would argue them in court. As far as I understand it, I know that no one will go to jail for these two charges. Even in Arthur Hayes' case with BitMEX, he only received a six-month house arrest for operating BitMEX. And I have far less direct interaction with customers than he did.

I don't primarily deal directly with customers. At Binance, I mainly interact with users through Twitter, unlike my deeper involvement at Bimax. Therefore, I'm quite confident that we're in a relatively strong position, which is the best solution for us.

Facing lawsuits, sentencing and imprisonment

Arriving in the United States to face the court involves many details, and the first day you need to prepare for your defense.

I was staying at a hotel in downtown Seattle. At that time, only my mother and sister went. I didn't want the children to go; they were still in school, and my partner had a business to manage. I was no longer running the business, so I didn't want to take her away from there.

Ultimately, the judge sentenced me to four months in prison. This verdict shocked me. I've always considered myself a good person and tried my best to do many things, but the complexities of the law have landed me in this situation.

Initially, I remained calm upon hearing the verdict, as there were many factors to consider and I understood the complexities of the law. However, as the final arrangements were finalized and the coming months became increasingly uncertain, I couldn't help feeling a sense of loss and unease. Most importantly, I am facing an uncertain future, but I have decided to try my best to cope and manage it positively.

I began to realize more clearly how vulnerable I and my team were during this difficult time. Despite our best efforts to keep the company running and ensure our personal lives were stable, everyone was affected by the immense legal and emotional pressures. This made me more aware of how to maintain a balance between life and work.

Through rational thinking and analysis, I accept all the uncertainties. Life and career are full of surprises and challenges; I cannot control everything, but I can control my reactions and emotions. I strive to remain calm and focus on what I can control, both at work and in life. This mindset makes me more resilient in adversity.

For me, this challenge was a profound learning experience. I learned more about responsibility, decision-making, and taking responsibility for consequences. Whether facing legal pressure or difficulties in company operations, I was able to learn from them and move forward. Each challenge made me stronger and also made me realize that what ultimately matters is not the achievement itself, but how to uphold my principles and bottom line in the face of difficulties.

These experiences have made me more calm and rational. Looking back, perhaps some decisions could have been made better, but the choices I made at the time were the best judgments I could make. Now I understand that success and failure are both part of life; what matters most is how we face them and draw strength and experience from them. Being able to share these experiences with everyone is also a relief for me.

The hardest part at the beginning wasn't the four months of imprisonment, but "Will I be safe?" If you tell me, "We're going to stay somewhere for four months, and I guarantee you'll be safe," I'll handle it and have no problem.

But the real uncertainty came after sentencing, when many major media outlets reported that I would be the first richest person to enter an American prison. My lawyer and prison counselor told me that, given all the media coverage, I was likely to become a prime target for potential extortion in prison, and my safety would be at risk. This was my biggest worry at the time. So how did I cope? You go in with nothing, how do you ensure your safety? This was the most important consideration. So you start thinking deeply about how to best prepare. You'll talk to many people; prison counselors are usually former guards or former wardens. There are also people who have worked in prison, but they aren't prisoners. There are also people who have been in prison themselves and will offer advice. Through these, you can learn about how prisons operate. Should you make friends? Should you avoid making friends? You'll hear all sorts of advice, such as, if someone approaches you very friendly on your first day, don't accept anything from them, because they will demand ten times more in return later. If you refuse, they might try to harm you.

I received a lot of different advice, but ultimately you have to face reality. In fact, I realized that the US prison system is enormous, with 2 million people incarcerated each year. The US government spends more on prisons annually than on education and schools. The US prison population is huge. Each state has a different system, state prisons and federal prisons, each prison is like a small city, each with its own rules. I received a lot of advice, but much of it wasn't very helpful. However, once you're in prison, you ultimately have to face reality. So, you have to confront it.

When you are sentenced, you don't know which prison you will be sent to. The court will provide two recommended locations, and you will usually receive a letter from them.

In my case, the judge ruled that I did not require supervision, which was quite exceptional. I was not required to report. So, I could only wait for a letter to be sent to my sister's address, which was my registered address with the court. In fact, the government, in their request, wanted me detained earlier, meaning I would be taken away from Hong Kong. I think they really wanted a "deportation photo" for public relations purposes. But the judge said that since I was neither a person of risk nor a threat to society, this was not necessary.

In fact, the judge added a sentence stating that I didn't need supervision, which was a very interesting legal ruling for me. I later realized that this was why I didn't need probation, parole, or supervision after my sentence ended. It was truly an interesting experience.

Challenges and Reflections on Prison Life

Fortunately, nothing particularly bad happened during my time in prison. Overall, it was a very painful experience, but there was no physical harm, no fighting, and no real extortion. The prison counselor told me, "Don't join any gangs after you go in; remain independent." However, as soon as I stepped into the prison, a guard told me, "You'll need protection; you might have to be with those people from the Asia-Pacific islands." I didn't understand what that meant at the time.

On my first day in prison, I went through a lot of procedures, starting with a strip search. After that, I was taken to a cell with 200 inmates; the prison was like a small city. There were three rows of cells, 20 cells per row, facing each other, on three floors. Below was a common area, where over 200 pairs of eyes were watching you. Once you entered your cell, you'd find that the prison was racially segregated. If you were Chinese, you were with other Chinese; if you were white, you were with other white; Black and Mexican people also had their own groups. This arrangement actually avoided a lot of conflict because you were more likely to get along with people from similar cultural backgrounds. Some Black people had different schedules, such as prayer time, and they were grouped together, and the prison guards actually encouraged this practice because it reduced conflict.

Once you join a group, if there's a conflict with someone from another group, the group will elect a representative to resolve the issue. This group also has its own hierarchy, similar to a union representative system, and everyone will discuss and resolve problems together.

When I first entered the prison, I didn't quite understand the rules. A guy who looked half Chinese and half Asian came up to me and said, "Hey, my name is Chino, welcome to our group." He said, "Car, welcome to our caravan." I was confused: "What? Should I shake his hand? Have I joined this gang?" It turned out this guy was of Filipino and German descent. Because there weren't enough Asians, they grouped everyone who looked Asian together. Even more interestingly, they also put Native Americans and Pacific Islanders together, like Hawaiians. There were only six people in our group; the other 200 were from different races.

I was assigned to a low-security prison. Actually, I should have qualified for the lowest security level, which is where most white-collar criminals end up, but because I'm not a U.S. citizen, I was sent to a low-security prison primarily for drug offenders. It was a truly crazy experience, and I plan to share more details in my book.

I remember on my first day in prison, the first thing I did was take a shower and have a good meal. Showering was a later opportunity; the shower door was like the door of a cowboy bar, only partially obscuring your view, so you could see your legs and head, but it was difficult to avoid bumping into the wall while showering. It wasn't until after I was released that I realized showering without bumping into the wall was a luxurious experience.

In prison, food was extremely limited, with very little fruit and protein. It was mostly carbohydrates, bread, and fried food; vegetables and protein were almost nonexistent, and fruit was scarce. I hadn't seen a whole piece of fruit for months, and seeing a plate of fruit when I was released was a true luxury.

Feelings when resigning from Binance

The journey from prison to the plane took about 26 minutes. At that moment, I just hoped it would all end as soon as possible. I remember when I was released, it was still the Biden administration; the election hadn't happened yet, it was unclear who would win, and American policy would likely continue in its original direction.

I went to jail on May 30, 2024, and was fully released on September 27, 2024, while the US presidential election was in November. At that time, I just hoped this matter would end as soon as possible, and I felt they would continue to take measures. If the policies continued, especially the anti-cryptocurrency policies, I knew we could only let it be and do our best. That was my mindset at the time.

Back home, I've accepted the reality that I can no longer manage Binance, and in fact, I can accept it. Resigning was definitely difficult; I cried about it. The only time I cried like that was a few years ago when my father passed away. However, you know what? Back home, I'm actually quite happy to no longer manage Binance. It gives me more free time. If I had resigned voluntarily, people would have said, "Hey, this guy couldn't handle it," but the situation is different now; this wasn't my choice.

But after a while, I realized there were other very useful and meaningful things to do in life. Overall, I'm very fortunate to have the resources and wealth to do whatever I want, support projects and businesses, including free educational platforms like Giggle Academy.

Thoughts on Amnesty

Regarding pardons, I don't think anyone really knows the process. In fact, I myself don't know the specifics. The general process is that you hire a lawyer to write a petition for you, listing the reasons why you should be pardoned, why you were over-prosecuted, and why you are a good person. A pardon means you've regained everything you had before, so now you're a normal person.

Essentially, the decision to grant a pardon is made by the president based on his interpretation of the petition. As I understand it, the Constitution grants the US government or president the power to grant pardons—it's that simple. How the president decides is usually influenced by social norms. Historically, most presidents have granted pardons on the last day of their term, although this practice is certainly somewhat novel and unconventional. President Biden also granted a pre-pardon to his son regarding several matters, not just COVID.

Almost no one mentioned these things during this period, or even discussed them. So, why do it? But in any case, I believe there's no fixed procedure for pardons; the president can make decisions based on his own will. Let's say you submit a pardon petition, you just have to wait. The White House has a special commissioner for pardons; I remember her name was Alice Johnson. She wrote a great book about her many years of imprisonment, which I've read. Then your lawyer will inform you of the application's progress and whether updates are needed. But in reality, the progress is often unclear until suddenly the pardon happens.

Actually, I didn't do anything. I just waited. However, I also realized that without a pardon, Binance would have a difficult time entering the US market normally. I am a UBO for Binance and Binance US. If the US wants to become the global capital of cryptocurrency, it cannot ignore the biggest players. You can't prevent US users from accessing the world's largest liquidity pools. And we are one of the world's largest cryptocurrency ecosystems. So I guess President Trump might be a pro-crypto president. And he has also faced charges against banks; he has faced 34 criminal charges.

I saw him facing these charges on TV from prison, some of which sounded absolutely insane, like him taking documents to the bathroom to read. You see, he's been through similar things, and the Biden administration's Department of Justice might help me get a pardon because he'd understand the Department's aggressive stance. So, that might have helped me in some way.

Driving digital education and the vision of Giggle Academy

Currently, my life remains very busy. Besides the Giggle Academy, a free educational platform, I also collaborate with numerous governments to help them develop regulatory policies for cryptocurrencies. In addition, I'm involved in investment work, investing in blockchain, artificial intelligence, and other technology projects; our team is very active. All of this work is outside of Binance and is part of YZi Labs. I also mentor some founders in the BNB blockchain ecosystem, helping them grow. I'm actually quite busy handling all these matters.

I have always believed in the enormous potential of fully digitized educational content. According to some data, approximately 700 to 800 million adults are illiterate, two-thirds of whom are women. In addition, about 500 million children are not in school. If you add these figures together, approximately 1.2 billion people are uneducated. Most of these people live in impoverished areas without schools nearby, or they cannot afford education. Moreover, today's school system itself has problems; teaching methods are too standardized, and learning environments are relatively monotonous.

I believe we have sufficient technological support—combining games, an understanding of human psychology, and artificial intelligence—to deliver all educational content through a single application, and that can be free. My goal is to enable everyone to learn through this application, breaking down the limitations of educational resources.

As for Alpha School, I think it's done a fantastic job, addressing the problems of the existing education system; however, its cost is relatively high. I've also met some founders and executives who have done a great job improving existing education. But my goal is to make education more accessible and widespread, not just to improve the existing system. My aim is to make education no longer confined to schools, but accessible to everyone through a simple app.

While I was initially very resistant to using tokenization on Giggle Academy, I'm now beginning to understand its pros and cons. Issuing tokens enables a "learn-to-earn" mechanism, incentivizing students and teachers, and rewarding content creators. This is a highly effective incentive mechanism that can drive the platform's growth.

However, for me, avoiding tokenization is primarily due to my own considerations. If I were to issue tokens, many people would start speculating on the tokens instead of focusing on the learning content. At that point, I wouldn't be able to tell whether they were seriously learning or just wanting to acquire tokens. Therefore, I don't want Giggle Academy to become a token platform or a cryptocurrency platform; I want it to remain pure and truly focused on educational value.

Nevertheless, things aren't that simple. One community project raised $12 million, based on a meme coin. This kind of project doesn't operate like traditional fundraising platforms; I've spent about three or four million dollars on this project, and so far, I haven't made much profit from it. Donations are indeed difficult to obtain; the process has been much harder than I anticipated.

Nevertheless, I still plan to continue funding this project until it can achieve a fully digital, gamified educational platform. That is my ultimate goal.

The Future of AI Agents and Payment Systems

Regarding AI, I believe that soon each of us will have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of AI agents working for us in the background. These agents will handle transactions, transfer funds, and in short, they will play a significant role in our lives, processing most of our affairs. Theoretically, if I want to listen to a podcast, listeners should pay, or pay more according to some economic model.

We even discussed this economic model last year, where agents would buy tickets for us. While this isn't fully realized yet, you can foresee agents booking restaurants, paying hotel bills, and even handling transactions far beyond our capabilities. Yes, these agents will no longer use the traditional banking system because banks simply cannot support such massive demand. Banks are no longer suited to these future economic transaction models because they cannot provide support such as KYC (Know Your Customer) verification.

This change isn't limited to payments; investment and trading will also undergo fundamental transformations. Today, when you open the Binance app and view a chart, you need to click on a price level, enter the price, and select a buy or sell button. But this interface is outdated. Future interfaces should be much smarter and simpler: for example, you could see at a glance t