Shocking! In 2014, this man sold his house in Shanghai to buy Bitcoin. Within a year, not only did the price of Bitcoin plummet by 50%, but the house price also doubled!
But instead of breaking down, he laughed: Even a genius like me can be exploited, how big must the market prospects be?
Let us walk into the legendary story of Binance founder Zhao Changpeng and see how he went from a shocking gamble to the throne of the crypto empire!
In 2013 in Shanghai, a seemingly ordinary poker game was going on. This was not an ordinary dinner party. Everyone present was either rich or noble, and everyone was a big shot in the business world. Even Zhao Changpeng, who became a senior executive of a large company at the age of 27 and a startup boss at the age of 36, was only a junior among this group of people.
What he didn't know was that the turning point of his fate was hidden in this game of cards. Because he met Li Qiyuan, the founder of Bitcoin China, a true pioneer in the industry. When most people were still asking "what is Bitcoin", Li Qiyuan's exchange had already become one of the world's leading exchanges.
"Bitcoin is the future." Just these six words made Zhao Changpeng throw away the cards in his hand. A currency that is not controlled by any institution, can circulate freely around the world, and is completely encrypted and secure, this was like a science fiction movie ten years ago!
From then on, Zhao Changpeng was like a man possessed. He immediately gave up his startup and entered the cryptocurrency world from scratch. With his extraordinary ability, he soon became the third in command of Blockchain, and was later poached by OKCoin, a top domestic platform, to serve as technical director.
Just when everyone thought he would proceed step by step, he made a "crazy" decision: sell all his properties in Shanghai and buy all of them in Bitcoin!
This kind of courage is unprecedented even in the cryptocurrency circle full of "crazy people". Everyone thought that he must have mastered some shocking inside information, but who knew that this man just had an almost paranoid belief in the future.
However, the market played a big joke on this genius. Bitcoin not only did not rise, but plummeted by 50%, while the housing prices in Shanghai doubled during the same period! But it was this painful experience that made him see greater opportunities.
In 2017, when the vegetable vendors were discussing Bitcoin, Zhao Changpeng knew that the time he had been waiting for had finally come! He founded the Binance exchange, which attracted 6 million users within half a year and became the world's largest cryptocurrency trading platform.
Looking back at this legend, perhaps it was that "painful" gamble that made him understand the market better than anyone else. When others were still hesitating, he was already all in; when others were panicking, he was already planning for the future.
This is the cryptocurrency world, where some people are jumping off buildings, and some are getting rich. But the ones who have the last laugh are often the "crazy ones" who see the farthest.
However, the rise of this crypto empire was not smooth. Just two months after Binance was founded, a huge crisis struck.
In September 2017, seven Chinese ministries jointly issued a notice to ban all virtual currency trading platforms. Overnight, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange became an "illegal institution."
Other exchanges surrendered one after another, and even Zhao Changpeng’s mentor, Li Qiyuan, chose to turn to blockchain. This was the first time Zhao Changpeng wavered: when even the guide gave up, should he still persist?
But in the end, for the belief that "Bitcoin is the future", he chose to leave China with his team and embarked on an adventure that can be called "The Wandering Earth".
The first stop was Japan. But you would never imagine how the world's largest exchange lives in Tokyo: because of tax issues, they can't afford to rent a building and can only work next to the toilet. They work under the smell every day, but Zhao Changpeng doesn't care at all. Because even in this environment, Binance still makes tens of millions of dollars a day.
However, the good times didn’t last long. After waiting for three months, what came was another ban from the Japanese government. Zhao Changpeng had no choice but to set off again with his team.
As China's ban was introduced, more and more countries began to follow suit. But this strengthened Zhao Changpeng's belief: it is these bans that prove the importance of decentralized currency. The more cryptocurrency is suppressed, the more valuable it will be in the future.
In the days that followed, Binance was like an unsinkable battleship. Whenever it was banned in one place, it would move to the next place. But no matter where it went, it maintained an astonishing growth rate.
By 2018, Binance had become a bona fide industry giant:
Daily trading volume exceeds $10 billion
Users in more than 180 countries around the world
Processing 1.4 million orders per second
Profits exceed the total of other top exchanges
This is not the end. In 2021, when the price of Bitcoin hit a record high, Zhao Changpeng's personal wealth once exceeded US$96 billion, making him the world's richest cryptocurrency player.
From selling his house and losing his stake in poker to building a crypto empire with a market value of hundreds of billions, Zhao Changpeng spent 7 years not only verifying his beliefs, but also proving one point: in the cryptocurrency world, the most important thing is not technology, not connections, but sober madness.
Some people say that the cryptocurrency market is too crazy, and that falling prices make people despair, while rising prices make people crazy. But in this market, those who can stay in the end are often those who see hope in despair and stay calm in madness.
Just like what Zhao Changpeng said after his stock was cut in half: "When even a genius can be ripped off, it means this market is really here."
Perhaps, this is the greatest charm of the cryptocurrency world: it does not care about your background or your academic qualifications. The only thing that matters is whether you have the courage and conviction to overcome the bull and bear markets.
In this industry that is destined to be written into financial history, Zhao Changpeng tells us with his own story: Sometimes, the seemingly craziest decision may be the most rational choice. And those who can stick to this "rational madness" may be the final winner.
The test of the bull market is not only the ups and downs of the market, but also the test of our mentality. In the face of changes in the account, we must remain rational. Next, I will announce the next coin with ten times the potential! It is better to grasp it than to guess blindly! Like + leave a message, free sharing.
