Abstract:
Recently, the New York Times published an in-depth interview with Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. During the interview, Changpeng Zhao expressed a series of views on personal wealth valuation, early investment logic, industry ecological status and regulatory direction. Responding to Forbes' estimate of his net worth exceeding US$114 billion, Zhao Changpeng proposed a correction. He said that the valuation was obviously too high, and his real assets were in the range of US$10 billion to US$30 billion.
In his view, wealth has diminishing marginal utility. Only US$10 million is enough to support a comfortable daily life. Wealth exceeding this amount has limited significance in improving the quality of personal life.
Looking back at the starting point of his personal investment, Changpeng Zhao disclosed in an interview that in 2013, he first heard about Bitcoin during a card game in Shanghai. After months of research, he sold a three-bedroom house in Shanghai and invested all the $900,000 in Bitcoin. At that time, he judged that Bitcoin represented borderless financial technology and was in line with the long-term trend of cross-border finance. Even if the investment failed, he still had the ability to regain a high-paying job in the traditional financial field.
The exclusive interview mentioned MGX’s US$2 billion investment transaction in Binance, which valued Binance at US$75 billion. Changpeng Zhao originally hoped that the transaction would be settled in Bitcoin, but investors in the United Arab Emirates were worried about the transaction risks caused by the violent fluctuations in Bitcoin prices and preferred to use stable coins to complete the payment. There were reports in the market that Binance designated the use of the USD1 stablecoin, which had no market verification at the time, for settlement. Changpeng Zhao denied this, saying that the choice was made independently by MGX. He expressed his views on stablecoins: As long as the stablecoins have a good reputation and will not return to zero overnight, he will not be too entangled in specific varieties.
At the corporate governance level, Changpeng Zhao emphasized that he will no longer participate in the daily operations and management of Binance and will only serve as a passive shareholder. Regarding Binance’s previous lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, Changpeng Zhao bluntly stated that this lawsuit was very costly. Even if Binance wins the lawsuit, it will be difficult for Binance to obtain substantial benefits, which is an unnecessary expense. Binance subsequently withdrew the lawsuit.
The interview also mentioned the memoir he is writing. The book uses a page and a half to explain his views on "simulation theory". He believes that humans may live in simulated realities constructed by other beings, and believes that this conjecture is mathematically possible. He wrote in the book that in 20 years, humans may realize technology similar to "The Matrix" and directly connect to complete virtual simulations. By then, billions of simulated worlds will be born. This set of cognitions also makes him more detached when looking at real-life pressures. He likened that human beings may be like Super Mario, running in artificially constructed scenes.
Currently, Changpeng Zhao lives in Abu Dhabi. He plans to invest all proceeds from his memoirs into public welfare education projects and launch free online education.
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