Davos Encounter | Zhao Changpeng: “I No Longer Have the Drive to Launch New Projects”

Text | Tencent Finance Davos Observation Team

Editor | Liu Peng

Wearing a black knitted cap and blue sneakers, Zhao Changpeng made a low-key appearance in the Swiss town of Davos on the morning of January 22, heading to a panel discussion titled "A New Era of Finance."

This marked the first time the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange had appeared on the public agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos since serving four months in prison in the United States, paying substantial fines, and stepping down as CEO of Binance. In just three short years, his identity has transformed rapidly: from entrepreneur, to leader of the world’s largest crypto exchange, to defendant at the center of regulatory storms—and now, participant among the global elite.

After stepping down from his role as Binance's CEO and undergoing these transformations, Zhao admitted, “I don’t have the drive anymore to start new ventures. After experiencing that exhausting entrepreneurial journey once, I’m simply not in a position to do it again. So right now, I’m mainly focusing on investing.”

Still, despite this shift, when discussing industry changes, Zhao noted that under the influence of shifting attitudes—particularly those of Donald Trump over the past year and more—the entire digital asset sector has grown significantly in size, visibility, and participation, with mainstream traditional financial institutions accelerating their entry.

“The shift in the U.S. stance is highly symbolic, given its status as a leading global power—it affects all aspects of the Western world,” Zhao said. Under America’s lead, many countries have begun changing their positions toward digital assets, such as Thailand and several Central Asian nations. He also referenced the UAE, where he resides long-term: “With UAE support, just two months ago they granted Binance licenses for nearly all of our global operations, including futures.”

Beyond regulatory shifts, capital flows are also transforming. “Many traditional funds previously couldn’t allocate to crypto assets—JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon even publicly opposed it—but now he recommends his clients allocate a certain percentage to digital assets,” Zhao observed. Over the past year, most new capital entering the space has come from traditional financial institutions or family offices.

Yet amid surging prices, retail investors following the trend face significant risks. For 24/7 trading markets where excessive leverage is widely permitted, this remains a perennial concern. “When anyone approaches something new, don’t dive in headfirst. If you can’t swim, jumping straight into deep water might not end well,” Zhao advised retail investors: “Go through a learning process, prioritize risk management, never put money you truly care about into it—allot only a small portion to experiment.”

Regarding the frequent fraud seen in the crypto space, Zhao stated exchanges should collaborate to educate and protect users and combat fraud. But he quickly added, “There’s also fraud in traditional banking and securities—quite a lot, in fact. In reality, the rate of fraud in the cryptocurrency industry may actually be lower than in traditional finance.”

During a public forum session, Zhao compared the crypto ecosystem to traditional banking, noting that in December 2023, Binance faced a record single-day withdrawal demand of $7 billion, processing $14 billion in withdrawals that week alone—yet unlike any fractional-reserve bank, it remained stable under such liquidity pressure.

Zhao further emphasized that blockchain’s importance has been proven over the past fifteen years. The crypto industry already has two mature sectors—exchanges and stablecoins. Looking ahead, he sees promise in three new directions: First, tokenization—he is currently discussing with around 12 governments how asset tokenization could generate economic benefits; second, payments—as cryptocurrencies integrate with traditional payment systems behind the scenes, the payment sector is poised for massive growth; third, AI—cryptocurrencies will become the native currency for AI agents, which will directly use digital currencies when fulfilling real-world payment needs.