The Symbolic Significance of Zhao Changpeng's Return to China: A Shift in Global Crypto Assets Regulation

Author: Wen Shijun

Who is the richest Chinese person in the world? Currently, it is NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. The 62-year-old Huang was born in Taiwan, China, and amidst the wave of AI, his net worth has soared to $151.4 billion, ranking him 9th globally.

Who is the richest Chinese person born in mainland China? It is 48-year-old Zhao Changpeng, who has a net worth of $75.3 billion, ranking 22nd in the world, $1.7 billion more than Zhong Shanshan, who is ranked 24th.

Among the top global billionaires who started from scratch, Zhao Changpeng, born after 1975, is considered relatively young. Moreover, he possesses a rare life experience that other billionaires do not have — he is the richest prisoner in human history. Just at the end of April last year, Zhao Changpeng was sentenced to 4 months in prison by the United States and even shared a cell with a double murderer.

Recently, Zhao Changpeng returned to China. In late August, he made two public appearances in Hong Kong: on the 27th, he appeared at the University of Hong Kong and had a dialogue in Chinese with Vice President Lin Chen at the “Crypto Finance Forum 2025”; on the 29th, he attended the “Asian Bitcoin Conference” in Hong Kong and had a dialogue in English with one of the conference organizers, Tyler Evans, who is also one of the founders of “Bitcoin Magazine.”

In the official introduction materials, the number one guest of the “Asia Bitcoin Conference” is Eric Trump. That's right, he is the second son of the current President of the United States and is considered the most knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies in the Trump family. The number two guest of the conference is Zhao Changpeng. In front of numerous cryptocurrency practitioners and enthusiasts, he speaks in English with an easygoing manner brought about by absolute financial freedom.

Of course, the global shift towards regulating cryptocurrencies has made things much easier for him—In this sense, Zhao Changpeng's high-profile return to the country carries symbolic significance.

From Prisoner to Honored Guest

“The previous government in the United States probably wasn't particularly good.” This statement from Zhao Changpeng elicited laughter from the audience during a Chinese dialogue at Hong Kong University on the 27th. “I have the right to say this,” Zhao continued, and the response from the audience was a mix of applause and laughter.

Just a year ago, Zhao Changpeng was still trapped in the United States. After the Trump administration took office, the U.S. government's 180-degree shift in attitude toward cryptocurrencies, along with the ambiguous and even loosening policies of major global economies, has made Zhao Changpeng an in-demand guest worldwide.

Zhao Changpeng continued, “But this government is very smart; they have a business background and understand that Tether has helped the United States solidify the importance of the dollar globally and has also contributed to the expansion of the dollar's and America's influence in the global currency arena.”

Tether is the issuer of the largest stablecoin USDT. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that maintain a relatively stable value by being pegged to specific assets such as fiat currency or gold. Tether's USDT is locked to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio, balancing the stability of the currency value with the high liquidity of cryptocurrencies.

Why do stablecoins support the US dollar? Zhao Changpeng mentioned a set of data on site: “There should now be over 100 billion USDT being used to purchase US Treasury bonds.” This is a very high proportion. As of September 2, USDT, the world's third-largest cryptocurrency, has a total scale of about 168 billion dollars.

As a former Chinese billionaire, Zhao Changpeng naturally brought the topic to the internationalization of the Renminbi: “China has an important goal, which is to enhance the influence of the Renminbi internationally, and (stablecoins) happen to align very well with this goal.”

Within China, Hong Kong is currently a “testing ground” for cryptocurrencies. On May 21, 2025, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the draft “Stablecoin Ordinance,” which will take effect on August 1.

The regulations clarify that issuing fiat-backed stablecoins in Hong Kong, or issuing stablecoins claiming to be pegged to the Hong Kong dollar both locally and internationally, requires a license from Hong Kong. This effectively brings stablecoins under regulatory oversight while granting them legal status.

Although the Hong Kong Monetary Authority stated that only a few stablecoin licenses will be issued in the first phase by early 2026, from the beginning of August to the 31st, 77 institutions have already “expressed their intention to apply for stablecoin licenses.”

Among them are big names, including currency issuing banks like Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), as well as tech giants like Ant Group, JD.com, and Xiaomi.

The competition is fierce and the track is hot, and it is against this backdrop that Zhao Changpeng has appeared in Hong Kong again.

The Biggest Winners in Cryptocurrency

Zhao Changpeng was born in 1977 in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, and later immigrated to Canada with his family. He became a software engineer at the Tokyo Stock Exchange before graduating from university. He recalled that if he had waited to get his degree before looking for a job, he might have missed such a job opportunity.

In 2005, he returned to China to start a business in Shanghai, initially working on high-frequency trading systems. In 2013, Zhao Changpeng first encountered Bitcoin; the following year, he made a decision that seemed somewhat reckless at the time: to sell his property in Shanghai and invest all his funds in Bitcoin.

Whether in work or investment, being willing to bet when the opportunity arises may just be a part of his character.

Zhao Changpeng's wealth peaked in 2021: with a net worth of $94.1 billion, he became the richest Chinese in the world—just four years after he founded the cryptocurrency exchange Binance in Shanghai.

A cryptocurrency exchange is a platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. In fact, it is precisely because of these platforms that cryptocurrencies have transformed from a theoretically-based “digital asset” into a form of wealth that ordinary people can trade and circulate.

Of course, it also allowed him, the “boss” of the exchange, to make a fortune. According to Zhao Changpeng's statement at Hong Kong University on August 27, “The two businesses that are probably more profitable in this (cryptocurrency) industry are stablecoins and exchanges.”

How do these two businesses make money?

Stablecoin issuers earn revenue from the funds: when users exchange for stablecoins, they deposit reserves into the issuing institution, and the funds that enter the issuer's account can generate profits through investments (such as purchasing U.S. Treasury bonds).

As for exchanges, profits mainly include trading fees, listing fees for projects on the platform, etc. The larger the scale of the cryptocurrency industry, the greater the profit potential for exchanges, which serve as the “infrastructure” of the industry.

Founded by Zhao Changpeng, Binance is not only the largest exchange in the world but also issues its own cryptocurrency, BNB (Binance Coin). In addition, Zhao Changpeng has revealed that 99% of his personal wealth is in cryptocurrency assets, and his net worth has skyrocketed geometrically along with the appreciation of cryptocurrencies, making him the richest Chinese person in the world.

With the blessing of the wealth aura, he became a symbol of the entire industry.

The hardest part in the US

However, the cryptocurrency industry is based on the underlying logic of blockchain and decentralization, which significantly conflicts with the traditional centralized monetary and financial systems controlled by various governments and central banks. Concerns about losing control, fears of fiat currencies being undermined, and skepticism about being a “Ponzi scheme” have been common attitudes of many governments towards cryptocurrencies.

To wear the crown, one must bear its weight. After founding Binance, Zhao Changpeng's life had to start “wandering” globally with the upgrade of cryptocurrency regulations worldwide.

In early 2018, Binance announced that it would stop providing services to users in mainland China. Zhao Changpeng initially considered relocating Binance to Japan—where he had previously worked—but soon received an eviction notice from the Japanese Financial Services Agency. He later tried many places, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malta, Bermuda, Jersey, and Singapore…

In the end, Binance itself has also “decentralized” - no longer announcing an official headquarters; Zhao Changpeng himself chose to settle in the UAE, breaking his persona of “not buying a house,” and in 2021 purchased a luxury house in Dubai for $13.5 million, which is 1,077.68 square meters and has six bedrooms.

Many Arab countries are quite wealthy because of oil “black gold,” but due to religious traditions, their financial systems explicitly prohibit interest—while the current financial system is largely based on interest, this often makes the local community more open to various types of “financial innovation.”

But the hardest part is not the ninety-nine-eighty-one, but America is the hardest to get through.

The United States is the largest cryptocurrency market in the world. But for a long time, Binance chose to “build a platform openly while secretly engaging in other activities:”

On the surface, Binance launched an independent “Binance US,” isolated from the global Binance platform, fully complying with the regulatory requirements of the United States at that time. However, Binance once allowed U.S. users to bypass geographic restrictions or provide evidence of “not being in the U.S.” to directly use the global Binance platform for trading.

The U.S. prosecutor collected evidence and requested Binance and Changpeng Zhao to cooperate with the investigation. In November 2023, Zhao voluntarily went to the U.S. from the UAE—signing a plea agreement and resigning as CEO of Binance, but was still prohibited from leaving the country pending trial. In April 2024, he was sentenced in Seattle; the fines imposed on him personally and Binance, totaling over $4 billion, set a record since the founding of the United States.

At the end of September 2024, Zhao Changpeng was released from prison and quietly returned to his home in the UAE. In early November of the same year, after Trump's victory, Zhao Changpeng began to become active again both online and offline.

“The fewer restrictions, the better the global economy will be”

Trump's reversal on cryptocurrency is also quite dramatic. He once stated, “Bitcoin looks like a scam. I don't like it.” But by July 2024, during his campaign for a second presidential term, Trump attended the Bitcoin 2024 conference and boldly announced, “Make sure America becomes the cryptocurrency capital of the world and a Bitcoin superpower.”

Trump did not renege on his promise. On March 6, 2025, Trump announced the establishment of the United States Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The next day, Trump hosted the “First White House Crypto Summit,” where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen said, “We will maintain the United States as the world's major reserve currency, and we will use stablecoins to achieve this.”

Under Trump's urging, the “Guidance and Establishment of the U.S. Stablecoin National Innovation Act” took effect on July 18, ahead of China (with Hong Kong's “Stablecoin Regulation” taking effect on August 1).

In the English dialogue at the Asian Bitcoin Conference on the 29th, Zhao Changpeng said: “To be honest, I was quite surprised that the U.S. was able to push these measures forward so quickly. We should give a thumbs up to Trump's governance!”

Zhao Changpeng naturally understands that this is a global trend: “I know that the UAE is planning to further advance policies to be more friendly and innovative towards the crypto space; Hong Kong is also gradually opening up; three days ago when I was in Tokyo, I learned that Japan is vigorously embracing cryptocurrency.”

He is also very clear about the logic behind it: “The United States is currently driving regulatory agencies and leaders around the world to pay attention to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, which is fantastic for the industry!”

The regulatory rules that once trapped Zhao Changpeng have also been overturned. Zhao Changpeng said in English: “Just yesterday or this morning, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that it might allow U.S. citizens to trade (cryptocurrencies) on international platforms.”

“Ideally, anyone should be able to trade with others, and anyone should be able to invest or raise funds globally.” This biggest beneficiary of blockchain decentralization is inevitably a proponent of a free economy.

“The less restrictions there are, the better the global economy will be.” Zhao Changpeng said.