The New York Times published an in-depth profile of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on Oct. 1, 2026, examining his life after the criminal case against him in the United States. The report says Zhao became an informal crypto diplomat after four months in prison while retaining influence at Binance despite a prohibition on running the exchange.

From bitcoin to Binance

Zhao, widely known as CZ, was born in China and moved to Canada with his family at age 12. After studying at McGill University, he worked in technology and lived in the United States, China and Japan.

He became seriously interested in bitcoin during a 2013 poker game in Shanghai. After several months of research, Zhao sold his family’s apartment for about $900,000 and invested the proceeds in Bitcoin.

Zhao founded Binance in July 2017 after working at several Asian crypto companies. Within months, it became the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform. The report attributed its rapid growth partly to high-risk products, including margin and leveraged trading, and weak customer verification. During its first four years, Binance allowed users to open accounts without completing full know-your-customer checks.

Zhao said his regulatory problems stemmed from inexperience. Court documents, however, included testimony indicating that he understood the risks and discussed concealing activity by U.S. users who traded without the required licenses.

Deepening ties in the UAE

After Binance left China in 2017, it considered jurisdictions including Japan and Singapore. Gabriel Abed, a businessman and former Barbados ambassador to the UAE, encouraged Zhao to consider Dubai in 2021. Zhao arrived that October and, according to the report, met UAE minister Omar Sultan Al Olama within hours.

The UAE offered Zhao a 10-year “golden visa,” sending a doctor to conduct his blood test. Documents that usually took weeks were issued in less than 12 hours.

Binance later assigned three employees to help develop the UAE’s crypto regulatory framework. A draft was completed in January 2022 and enacted weeks later. Zhao also gained access to the ruling family and said he had personal contact with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Zhao developed particularly close ties with Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president’s brother and one of the UAE’s most influential figures. The report put the assets controlled through Tahnoun’s network at roughly $1.5 trillion and said Zhao attended private palace meetings. Zhao also encouraged Sam Altman to establish a corporate presence in the UAE, arguing that technology companies elsewhere could face tougher regulation.

FTX collapse and U.S. criminal case

Zhao said FTX had recruited Binance employees with salaries three to five times higher and that Sam Bankman-Fried had criticized him in Washington. After CoinDesk reported on FTX’s financial difficulties in November 2022, Zhao said Binance would sell about $500 million of FTT tokens. Customers then withdrew funds en masse, exposing a liquidity shortfall and the large-scale use of customer assets.

The report said Bankman-Fried misappropriated about $8 billion in customer funds. Binance announced plans to acquire FTX two days after Zhao’s statement but withdrew the following day. Zhao said he had intended to sell FTT gradually, did not seek to destroy FTX and that Binance lost about $500 million on the transaction.

U.S. prosecutors separately investigated whether Binance’s weak controls allowed scammers, hackers, sanctions evaders and others involved in illegal financial schemes to use the platform. As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and resigned as chief executive. Binance agreed to pay about $4.3 billion in fines and other payments. Zhao later served four months in prison; his jet departed 26 minutes after his release.

Influence, compliance questions and diplomacy

Zhao is prohibited from running Binance or participating in its operational management. The Times nevertheless reported that he retains a large stake, communicates closely with company leaders and monitors decisions. Yi He, Zhao’s partner and the mother of their three young children, remains a key executive and one of Binance’s two co-heads. Two years after the case, Binance established a board with three formally independent members, chaired by Abed.

The report said Binance last year fired or suspended four compliance employees who had identified nearly $2 billion that may have moved from customer accounts to organizations linked to Iran. Binance disputed their findings and said it had not punished them for reporting possible violations. The Justice Department separately said two Chinese companies used Binance to launder proceeds from Iranian oil sales, although Binance faced no new criminal charges over that episode.

Since prison, Zhao has met government officials and advised countries including Pakistan, the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan on cryptocurrency regulation, stablecoins and digital assets. He said some governments arrange meetings with presidents and ministers and provide a motorcade to his aircraft. He has also invested in technology ventures, including a startup developing artificial-womb technology.

Forbes estimated Zhao’s wealth at about $114 billion, while he said $10 billion to $30 billion was more realistic. The Times said he lives in a nine-bedroom villa worth an estimated $5 million on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island and has security guards, a chef, a private jet and a yacht named Da Moon.

Zhao released his memoir, Freedom of Money, in April 2026. The book covers Binance’s creation, the early crypto market, FTX and his life after prison. It also describes his belief in simulation theory and his expectation that neural interfaces could let people enter fully developed digital simulations in about 20 years. His stated formula for life is: “It’s just a game.”

Source: Incrypted