CZ believes that the dilemma facing Ethereum is more of a public relations crisis.

Author: Wu Shuo Colin

The content of this article reflects the views of the interviewee and does not represent the views of Wu Shuo.

In this interview, Wu Shuo Colin converses with Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) on various topics. CZ recalls his happy childhood in a Chinese school before the age of 12; after immigrating to Canada at 12, his family's economic status changed, with his mother going from being a teacher to a factory worker, which even affected her health; later, he dropped out of school early due to a job offer.

Due to Binance's rapid success, CZ went from being unknown to becoming the world's richest person in just a few years. However, he later faced a lawsuit in the U.S. and ultimately spent four months in prison. CZ mentions that his biggest wish every year is to have six-pack abs. He jokes that he was closest to having six-pack abs when he was in prison because the food there was so bad.

During the conversation, CZ discussed the reasons for Binance's early rapid success, attributing it mainly to personal experience and timing. At that time, other exchanges were focused on mainstream coin trading, while Binance quickly launched a large number of ERC20 token trades. He also discussed whether FTX could be saved and the current challenges CEX faces in listing coins; whether centralized exchanges must move towards compliance; and the direction of cryptocurrency policies in Hong Kong and the U.S.

CZ shared his experience of writing the most important article of his life, "Principles"; discussed the current dilemmas faced by Vitalik, and made light of Sun Yuchen; he analyzed why memecoins on Solana suddenly exploded; introduced his future work and advice for entrepreneurs. Finally, CZ sent New Year blessings to the Chinese community, believing that this year will be a very good year and hoping everyone can achieve good results steadily.

Listen to the full podcast:

Xiaoyuzhou:

https://www.xiaoyuzhoufm.com/episodes/6795f930d74435e4a3dc2cfa

YouTube:

https://youtu.be/vfl73WULagc

Childhood in China before the age of 12 and family situation after immigrating to Canada

Colin: Welcome CZ to our interview. The first question is, you left China at 12, do you still remember your childhood in China before the age of 12?

CZ: Yes, of course. I think I had a pretty happy childhood, and the memories are very beautiful. At that time, both my parents were teachers, and I lived on school campuses, like elementary school, middle school, and the campus of the University of Science and Technology of China, always living in a school environment, which left me with a very good impression. I lived a carefree childhood; my family wasn't wealthy, but as a child, I didn't feel the lack of money, and I was doing quite well.

Colin: I saw your later interviews and had a question. After you moved to Canada, you mentioned that your parents' salaries were close to the local minimum wage. Wouldn't life be quite tight after moving to Canada? Did your parents continue to be teachers there or do other jobs? Did you need to work to earn money?

CZ: When we first arrived in Canada, we were considered a middle or well-off family in China, with both parents earning salaries. My dad saved money while studying abroad and sent it back to China, so life was not bad at that time after currency conversion. After moving to Canada, the quality of life didn't decline, but we were at the bottom of the social income ladder. However, we had no issues with food, clothing, and housing. My mom couldn't continue being a teacher due to her poor English and had to work in a clothing factory, sewing clothes from early morning to late at night. This job was not good for her health, but it was the only job she could find.

In Canada, my dad was a teaching assistant, and although the salary was low, the university provided housing subsidies for teaching assistants. We lived in a small house, but it was bigger than where I lived in China, so I considered it an improvement. We weren't particularly poor in Canada, but our income was close to the minimum level.

Colin: What subject did your father teach?

CZ: He taught geophysics, which is Geo Physics. This subject has high mathematical requirements, with many complex formulas that require frequent calculations. My father is very good at math, which might be why I excel in science.

Reasons for dropping out of university: Delaying graduation due to a good internship offer

Colin: I understand that you have started several projects, with reports saying there are 5-10. You founded Binance in 2017. It must have been difficult in the early days of Binance, and you probably didn't expect it to grow so large. Looking back now, what do you think were the most important reasons for Binance's explosive growth in just one year?

CZ: Many people think Binance became famous overnight, but they may not have accounted for the 20 years of experience I accumulated in the industry before that. I had been working in the tech and exchange industries for over 20 years, and by the time I started Binance, I had already been in the digital currency field for four to five years, building connections and a team. When I started Binance, I assembled a strong team, both in technology and product development. At the same time, the community provided a lot of support, and people were not unfamiliar with me. Additionally, we were lucky; the timing was very good.

In 2017, established exchanges like Coinbase, OKCoin, and Huobi were mainly focused on Bitcoin trading, with very few Ethereum ERC-20 tokens listed. Our BNB was itself an ERC-20 token, so we supported this type of token from the beginning and later listed many ERC-20 tokens. From a product perspective, we had clear advantages. However, I think the most important thing was that our philosophy was different from previous exchanges. We weren't just focused on making money; we prioritized protecting users, which was very evident during the "94 Clean-up" incident.

At that time, it was stipulated that projects that had conducted ICOs in China had to return money to investors if they lost money, but many projects were severely in debt and couldn't repay. We had about four projects on our platform that were in a loss state, and the project parties had no money to cover user losses. After consideration, we decided to cover the user losses, which we calculated would require $6 million. Keep in mind that just two months prior, we had raised $15 million, and the company was still losing money; $6 million was equivalent to 40% of the company's assets. Even so, we still took out this money to cover user losses, and these were not projects we had issued. In terms of customer service, while other exchanges in 2017 might take two to three months to respond to customer requests, we promised to handle them within a day, and now we've shortened that to five minutes. These reasons contributed to Binance's rapid growth, and of course, luck played a part as well.

Security pressures and system performance issues faced by Binance in its early days

Colin: I was working at Bitmain at the time, and I felt that the pressure on Binance in its first year must have been immense, especially regarding security. The team was small, and the industry's security infrastructure was not well developed. Wasn't there immense pressure in dealing with hacker attacks and other security issues?

CZ: That's right. For any exchange, the security pressure from hacker attacks has always been significant; security is key to the operation of an exchange. There's a little anecdote that many people might not remember. In the first four months after Binance launched, from July to mid-October, all withdrawals were manually reviewed. Every withdrawal had to be processed manually, with a few processed every few hours.

When the staff took breaks at night, no one was there to handle it. The reason for manual review was that we were particularly worried that if there was a vulnerability, automated withdrawals could lead to a total loss of funds. By October, Binance had already entered the top ten exchanges globally, but withdrawals were still being handled manually. However, the bigger challenge at that time was actually system pressure. Binance was growing too fast, with users constantly pouring in, and the system was always lagging. Although we promoted our matching engine as being fast, the surrounding systems, such as the registration system, KYC system, deposit system, and withdrawal system, were all experiencing lag, so we focused more on optimizing system performance at that time.

Analyzing the FTX incident: Is there a chance it could have been saved?

Colin: The FTX incident is a significant event in the crypto world, and looking back, it seems absurd in the history of the crypto space, and Binance was also involved. From today's perspective, was there any possibility of saving FTX at that time? It seems that its assets could cover user compensation, although its misappropriation of user assets was very serious, and those responsible will definitely go to jail, but the remaining assets seem to be able to complete the compensation.

CZ: My understanding is that based on the price of cryptocurrencies in USD at that time, FTX's existing assets, when converted to USD at the then-coin prices, could cover the losses. However, if we were to return all the Bitcoin, Ethereum, and various digital currencies that users held at that time, the appreciation of those coins now means that FTX's assets cannot cover that. In other words, if FTX hadn't had problems, the assets users held might be three to four times more than what they actually have now. According to the current calculation method, converting to USD at the then-coin prices and comparing it to the current value of FTX's assets in USD, it could be covered. But if users had held those coins until now, their market value should be four to five times what it is now. I'm not entirely sure if my understanding is completely accurate.

Colin: It seems that the gap is still too large to bridge.

CZ: FTX actually did not fully cover all user assets; it was just calculated based on the lower coin prices at that time. If all digital currencies were returned to users, early users would have received five times the amount they would have now, which is what they rightfully deserve. It's similar to the Mentougou incident in 2014, where they owed several hundred million, which was an astronomical amount at the time, but now the coin prices have risen. Although FTX's assets can cover the price of Bitcoin at that time, from the user's perspective, if they had held onto the coins, the amount they would receive now would be five times more, so users still lost about 70-80%. Looking back, by November 2022, when FTX began to collapse, it was already beyond saving. If the problems had been detected earlier, there might have been a chance, but at that time, there was no way to detect it in advance.

Active on-chain economy and the dilemma of centralized exchanges?

Colin: There's another recent hot topic I want to hear your thoughts on. Binance's early success was largely due to the many high-performing new coins it listed, like BNB and Tron. Later, Binance's launchpad and launchpool also became very successful. However, in the past year, the on-chain economy has been very active, and many people can get the lowest prices on-chain, making the listing of coins on exchanges a signal of price peaks, which is a stark contrast to the early days. I feel that both Binance and other exchanges are unsure how to respond to this. What do you think about this issue?

CZ: I think there are at least two levels of reasons for this. On one hand, as the platform grows larger, it can only list relatively stable coins. If Binance lists a new coin with a market cap of only $10 million, or even just a few hundred thousand or a few million dollars, its price fluctuations will be too large. So from the perspective of large exchanges, to avoid excessive price volatility, they can only choose coins with larger market caps, which is a natural limitation for large exchanges. However, large exchanges can also set up innovation zones or support these smaller coins in Web3 wallets; there are still ways to address this. Personally, I think Binance hasn't done particularly well in this regard. In the past year or two, Binance has been distracted by some issues in the U.S. and my personal matters. I've basically been in the U.S. handling personal affairs for the past year.

On the other hand, MEME coins have been very popular in the past year. Large exchanges have generally missed this opportunity, while it has been easier to participate on-chain, especially on the Solana chain. There are some claims about this, but I'm not sure of their truth. Solana was closely linked to FTX, and after FTX collapsed, many people on Solana lost a lot of money and lost exchange support, so they chose to pump and dump. Doing such things on the Binance chain is not appropriate, as it poses both moral and legal issues. Additionally, in the past few years, the U.S. SEC, like Gary Gensler, has basically classified various coins as securities, and the only ones that can be clearly defined as not being securities are those with little practical use, which are MEME coins. Therefore, MEME coins are less likely to be sued. MEME coins have no other practical utility or promises, making them suitable for pump and dump schemes, and they are not closely tied to exchanges, being decentralized, which is why they are so popular on Solana. It's like how we were lucky to hit a good timing in 2017; the past year or two has been the time for MEME coins. I find this quite interesting and don't judge it as good or bad. Since the industry is moving in this direction, as a Binance shareholder, industry KOL, or OG, I will support anything that benefits the industry's development, so I also encourage everyone to support MEME coins.

Do centralized exchanges have to move towards compliance?

Colin: Data shows that last year, Binance's capital inflow exceeded the sum of all other exchanges. This indicates that although Binance has faced many challenges this year, its development remains robust. However, centralized exchanges are now facing compliance challenges, and compliant exchanges find it difficult to profit, while offshore exchanges face increasing regulatory risks. Even exchange owners traveling to Japan or Europe may encounter issues, just like the Telegram owner who was arrested as soon as he landed in France. What do you think about the current predicament of exchanges? Do you think they all have to move towards compliance in the future?

CZ: I believe so. Once a platform reaches a certain scale, it must comply. From the perspective of regulatory authorities, small platforms may be overlooked or temporarily ignored, but large platforms are definitely the focus of regulation. For example, Binance has been under regulatory scrutiny for a long time, so it must take the path of compliance. Binance has many restrictions, such as the Web3 wallets associated with the exchange, which all require KYC verification. Although users control their assets in Web3 wallets (using MPC technology), some exchanges slightly smaller than Binance do not require KYC verification for their Web3 wallets. This is something Binance cannot do; these second-tier exchanges are not small but often do not conduct KYC verification, so Binance faces more restrictions. Large exchanges generally face more limitations, but compliance is an inevitable path. Moreover, during the compliance process, regulatory enforcement is not uniform; not all platforms are treated equally.

Colin: It is indeed different. Now, someone like Sun Yuchen might make crazy donations to Trump, but during the Democratic administration, there might not be any opportunity.

CZ: Right. However, I believe that regulation will eventually improve, especially since the U.S. has become very supportive of digital currencies. I think the U.S. will introduce a series of very positive regulatory provisions for the digital currency industry. The new regulatory provisions proposed by the U.S. SEC are very clear and much more proactive than before. As a result, the overall regulatory environment will improve, and the regulatory framework will become more complete. Platforms that have obtained licenses and meet regulatory requirements will have better opportunities for growth.

As you just mentioned, although MEME coins are very popular now, in terms of capital inflow, Binance's inflow last year exceeded the total of other exchanges. This means that many retail investors, especially those who are new to digital currencies, will choose exchanges that appear to be the most stable and have undergone multiple reviews and are still operating. Therefore, many new users tend to choose these more stable platforms. MEME coins are indeed very popular, but most of the people playing with MEME coins are OGs. Although there are also newcomers joining, early adopters make up a large proportion. After playing with MEME coins, many people will still choose to invest in Bitcoin, and when buying Bitcoin, they may still choose large exchanges. Thus, different fields will have different development speeds, regulatory pressures, and models, and I think that's quite good; an industry should have a variety of different platforms.

Hong Kong hasn't done enough; it will face more relaxed pressure from the U.S. in the future

Colin: What do you think of the current regulatory policies in Hong Kong? You just mentioned the U.S.; in the next two to four years, there will be significant benefits for the overall digital currency landscape. Currently, the entire Chinese region may see Hong Kong as a breakthrough in the cryptocurrency field, and the latest report from the People's Bank of China also encourages Hong Kong to actively explore cryptocurrency policies.

CZ: I think China's strategy is very wise, using Hong Kong as a pilot area. Over the past four years, the U.S. has had a very unsupportive and even repressive attitude towards digital currencies, while Hong Kong has been more friendly towards digital currencies. However, Hong Kong may currently be a bit behind in this regard. The existing regulatory provisions in Hong Kong are quite restrictive. For example, Japan had many regulatory restrictions on coin listings and futures seven years ago, with unclear regulations. However, about three to four years ago, Japan basically lifted its restrictions on coin listings. Hong Kong has not yet reached that level of leniency. However, after recently communicating with some senior officials in Hong Kong's regulatory departments, I feel that there is a trend towards relaxing regulations in Hong Kong. Now that the U.S. is making progress in digital currency regulation, Hong Kong certainly cannot lag behind. I believe Hong Kong will soon make significant positive adjustments. Regulatory policy adjustments need to be gradual; previously, Hong Kong's regulatory provisions were indeed quite tight, but it should become more competitive in the future, so I am relatively optimistic about Hong Kong's development in this regard.

The most important article of my life: "Principles"

Original:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/gUU-tp4U9X43qIkX9niCgQ?token=386014621&lang=zh_CN

Colin: Next, I want to talk about the article "Principles" that you wrote earlier. This article has been widely circulated, and many people feel that it summarizes your years of entrepreneurial experience, containing many interesting viewpoints, such as your desire to collaborate more with those who actively seek you out, and your thoughts on work efficiency, like using text instead of phone calls when possible, and avoiding meetings when a phone call will suffice. Looking back at this article, what key points do you most want to convey to the outside world? After all these years, do you have any new thoughts to add? I heard you are writing a book; is it an expansion of this article?

CZ: Yes, I spent about two to three years writing that article.

Colin: It took that long.

CZ: Yes, I didn't expect it would take so long. I added content little by little while writing. I only thought of writing my own piece after reading Ray Dalio's book "Principles." But at first, I couldn't write anything. Later, I met Ray and asked him how he wrote "Principles." He told me that every night he would reflect on the decisions he made that day, why he made those decisions, and if there were any principled factors behind some decisions, he would write down that principle. After hearing him say that, I started writing a little every day. I would review which meetings I attended, what decisions I made, and the reasons for those decisions. If the reasons had general applicability, I would record them. I continued this for two to three years before completing the article, which, although not long, is about 10 pages.

Colin: This is a very important article in your life.

CZ: That's right; it indeed took a lot of time. Ray's guidance gave me some ideas, and I gradually wrote down my thoughts, trying to write about areas where my thinking differed from others. For example, everyone knows that a company should save money, so I didn't write about that. I've always been observing myself to see which ideas differ from others. For instance, while others think that if they can meet in person, they shouldn't call, and if they can call, they shouldn't message, my viewpoint is quite the opposite.

This article took a lot of my energy, and my team helped me polish some parts, but the main content was indeed written by me. Additionally, I am currently writing a book about my personal experiences. I originally hoped to finish and publish it in the first quarter to the second quarter of this year. Previously, I had little to do in the U.S. and couldn't meet many people, so I spent a lot of time writing. But now I've hit a bit of a bottleneck; even though I don't have work, I'm still very busy, and I don't know why.

Future focus on participating in investments and communicating with early entrepreneurs

Colin: There were reports that you might be more involved in investment work at Binance Labs. Are you currently busy with investment-related matters?

CZ: Yes, we are preparing to rename Binance Labs, and we might announce it this week (it has already been announced as Yzi Labs). I am indeed doing some investments, but I don't look at many projects in that area. I prefer to communicate with early entrepreneurs because I am an entrepreneur myself and am very willing to support other entrepreneurs, so I pay more attention to early investment projects. Recently, I have been frequently communicating with founders from various industries, and many people have been kind enough to come to me for meetings and chats, and I try to give advice whenever I can.

Through these conversations with founders, I have learned a lot. For the past seven or eight years, I have been focused on Binance's centralized exchange business, but now I am exposed to many new fields, such as AI, biosciences, and many new things in the blockchain field. People might think I am well-versed in blockchain, but when you are busy operating a centralized exchange, you don't have time to delve into many new things; I only have a superficial understanding. Now I have the opportunity to spend more time learning from these founders and understanding the new things they are doing, which I find very interesting.

Views on the dilemmas facing Ethereum

Colin: Here's another interesting question: do you usually browse Twitter? Recently, Vitalik has been heavily criticized, and yesterday, Sun Yuchen even offered him some advice. What do you think about the current dilemmas facing Ethereum? Do you have any suggestions?

CZ: I think this is more of a public relations crisis; it's a PR issue. Ethereum itself is still very strong. Looking solely at market capitalization, aside from Bitcoin, it is larger than any other coin. Solana has seen rapid growth, but its market cap is still behind Ethereum. To be honest, Sun Yuchen has always liked to ride the wave of trends, and he does well in PR. However, Sun giving advice to Vitalik is like a small exchange giving advice to a large exchange; there is still a gap in business level. Of course, Sun is very smart and has his strengths; every founder has their unique qualities.

Vitalik is a technical genius, and this cannot be overlooked or denied. Innovations like ERC-20, NFTs, and Soul-bound Tokens were all invented by him, and these all originated from Ethereum. His contributions to the entire industry are significant. Although Ethereum's price hasn't risen much in the short term, its overall market cap is still quite impressive.

From my perspective, I support every entrepreneur in the industry; both Vitalik and Sun have had their challenges. For those trading coins, it's hard to guarantee profits without losses; prices cannot keep rising indefinitely, and the industry will inevitably experience fluctuations. I suggest everyone maintain a long-term investment mindset and not become emotional due to price fluctuations. Since Ethereum's inception, its overall increase has surpassed that of Bitcoin, which is no small feat. Vitalik has recently tweeted a few times, but perhaps the timing wasn't quite right.

Colin: It feels a bit anxious.

CZ: Moreover, his way of speaking may not be very well-received. He comes from a technical background, is somewhat straightforward, and is young, so he speaks quite directly. For example, when he says certain aspects are under his control or designated by him, it invites more criticism. But as industry practitioners, we should be more tolerant of him; we can't put too much pressure on him over minor issues. Entrepreneurship is really not easy.

Addressing the Difficulties Faced by Entrepreneurs in the Crypto Space

Colin: Additionally, this industry needs diversity; not everyone should only focus on Solana or all launch MEME coins, nor should everyone be like Sun Yuchen. The industry should have different development directions. You mentioned earlier that you mainly communicate with and support entrepreneurs, but it seems that entrepreneurship in the crypto space is facing some difficulties. Recently, a saying has become popular: "Good products don't need tokens, and good tokens don't need products." Regardless, it seems that entrepreneurship in the crypto space faces a problem where, aside from financial services, it is difficult to make money in other areas, making the entrepreneurial path quite narrow. Do you feel this way? What advice or thoughts do you have for these entrepreneurs?

CZ: This is the first time I've heard that saying today. But my view is completely different; I think there are many opportunities in the crypto space right now. There are numerous projects that can excel in both the project itself and the performance of their tokens. On the contrary, I believe that if there are only tokens without actual projects to support them, it will be hard to understand how their value can be maintained in the long run. Even with MEME coins, there needs to be value support behind them; they can't rely solely on hype. Therefore, I think there are many things to be done in the industry. The trading volume of decentralized exchanges is rising, and more people are using them, but every blockchain experiences congestion when trading volume is high. Even Solana, which claims to be fast, has recently experienced congestion. Additionally, there is still much room for improvement in wallet usability.

There are many industries that have yet to be served by blockchain, such as the research field. Many scientists need funding for their research; although there may be many failures, once successful, the returns can be very substantial. This model is feasible; it just hasn't been fully realized yet. Now, some political figures are also starting to issue MEME coins, and after issuing them, how to provide value support for these MEME coins also needs exploration.

From my perspective, as an entrepreneur myself, I see countless opportunities and often feel overwhelmed. Good entrepreneurs are always the most scarce resource. Those trading coins may complain about why the coins they bought can't skyrocket immediately. But if we extend the time frame a bit, just a few months ago when Bitcoin was at $60,000, everyone was happy, thinking it had reached a new high. Now that it's at $100,000, people are still complaining. I think people shouldn't expect prices to rise every day; they should look at it from a long-term perspective.

Discussing Views on Bitcoin Price Trends

Colin: How high do you think Bitcoin can rise in this cycle?

CZ: This is a question many people ask me, but I really can't say. However, I think Bitcoin's current wave hasn't peaked yet. Trump has just taken office, and a series of new compliance measures in the U.S. haven't been introduced yet. I believe there will be many positive developments ahead. I have always been optimistic about the entire industry; even during the worst bear markets, I maintained a positive attitude, and the same goes for bull markets. So I remain quite optimistic, but my views may not be entirely accurate.

On the Shift in U.S. Digital Currency Policy Attitude

Colin: I remember in your last interview in Dubai, Trump hadn't taken office yet. At that time, you said you didn't want to have any relationship with the U.S. Has your attitude changed now? You've talked a lot today, and you still seem very confident. But if you get closer to Trump or the U.S., what if the Democrats come back to power in two or four years, and the policies change again? How would you respond to that situation?

CZ: Yes, the last interview was probably before the U.S. election, around late October or early November, when the election hadn't started yet, so the situation in the U.S. was unclear, and we didn't know who would be elected. Even if someone was elected, it wasn't clear how optimistic Trump would be about digital currencies.

However, there have indeed been significant changes in recent months. Not only was Trump elected, but he also released related policies, which was unexpected. The newly appointed officials in the U.S., especially those in core government positions, are very supportive of digital currencies. This change in administration clearly shows that the influence of digital currencies is substantial. Many young people hold digital currencies, and if they are unfriendly towards digital currencies, it will directly affect their wealth, which in turn influences their voting behavior; this is a natural reaction. So it's clear that digital currencies can no longer be ignored. Personally, I feel that the previous faction believed that suppressing digital currencies would gain more support, but the election results indicate that this perception is incorrect. Therefore, I believe that in the next four years, digital currencies will see greater development, and the likelihood of returning to a suppressive attitude in four years is very low.

Just like the internet back in the day, it was initially questioned for its merits, but once it reached a certain level of development, its recognition could not be ignored. So the risks four years from now are, first, relatively small, and second, the talent pool within the Republican Party in the U.S. currently looks strong, such as the Vice President, who has a high reputation. So we will see what happens in four years. But right now, the U.S. has a positive attitude towards digital currencies, which is very good for the entire industry. All countries are actively promoting blockchain regulatory provisions, and these provisions are becoming increasingly friendly, which is very positive. Binance currently does not serve U.S. users, but there is an independent company called Binance US. Although it has Binance in its name, it is a completely independent company. It has shrunk significantly due to some issues, but it is still operating. We hope it can develop healthily in the U.S. and continue to grow with the current favorable conditions.

I think Binance US's products are very competitive; it has reached 40-50% of Coinbase's global trading volume twice, but both times it fell due to other third-party objective reasons. Therefore, as long as the regulatory provisions treat it fairly, it is very competitive, and I am not particularly worried about that.

Sharing Daily Life

Colin: Some of my friends want to ask you a few questions. First, how do you spend your day? Second, your New Year's resolution was to get six-pack or eight-pack abs; how's that going? Third, what is your favorite city?

CZ: Sure. Regarding my daily life, I am much more relaxed now than before. I usually schedule about seven or eight meetings a day and make a few phone calls, but now I can exercise every day and go to the gym. Currently, I enjoy two sports.

Both of these sports involve boards: one is skiing, and the other is kite surfing. When it's windy, I play for an hour or two every day, and the rest of the time is spent in meetings and such. My life now feels more like that of a retired investor, which is much better than when I was the CEO of Binance. Speaking of six-pack abs, when I just got out of prison, I could vaguely see my six-pack abs, and I even took a photo.

Colin: Is it because you were eating relatively light?

CZ: The food there was really terrible, so I ate less. When I first got out, I could vaguely see my six-pack abs, and one day when I have the courage, I might post that photo I took in the bathroom; it's not a fancy photo. After getting out of prison, it has been hard to maintain six-pack abs because after eating poorly for so long, when I suddenly have good food, it's hard to resist. Getting abs requires dietary control, but my self-control regarding diet isn't very strong right now, so I've lost my six-pack again. That was probably the closest I ever got to having six-pack abs. What was the third question? Oh, my favorite city.

I like many cities; each city has its unique qualities. Right now, I feel very comfortable living in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The business environment and digital currency environment here are good, and the country's management and security are also excellent. Of course, there are downsides; it's a desert, and it does get very hot in the summer, but the winter is very pleasant, and right now it's quite comfortable. I also really like Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore. There are many great cities in Europe, but currently, Europe is developing slowly in terms of digital currencies, so I visit less often. I haven't traveled much to South America and the U.S. because they are far away. I mostly operate in the Middle East and Asia. In Thailand, the traffic can be congested, but I like other aspects of it.

Colin: You can only travel by motorcycle.

CZ: Right, but usually when I go to a place, I just stay in the hotel, so I don't spend much time on the road; I meet many people at the hotel.

Sending New Year Wishes to Chinese Entrepreneurs and Investors

Colin: Finally, thank you, CZ, for taking the time. I hope we can continue our conversation next time. Since the Chinese New Year is approaching, could you say something to Chinese entrepreneurs and investors?

CZ: Sure, thank you very much, Colin, for this opportunity. I believe we can definitely communicate more often in the future. Previously, in many Asian communities, I generally let He Yi handle the Asian market while I focused on the English market; that's how we divided our work. So my communication with the Chinese community may not have been enough. Now that I am "retired," I will balance both sides in my personal capacity.

Here, my advice to everyone is to view this industry, technology, and industry development with the right mindset and patience. Whether you are an investor or an entrepreneur, the entire industry is in an upward phase. Although there may not be obvious progress every day, the overall situation is very favorable when viewed monthly or annually. Everyone should not be anxious; whether it's entrepreneurship, launching tokens, or investing, you should steadily do your own thing. I believe this year will be a very good year. I wish all friends and supporters in the Chinese community a Happy New Year. Additionally, in the future, I will spend more time engaging with the Chinese community, and we can communicate more.

Colin: Okay, thank you, CZ.

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