Changpeng Zhao: tech chief in the eye of the cryptocurrency storm

Changpeng Zhao does not like ambiguous words. Which is just as well: the crypto industry, in which he is a leading figure, is in turmoil and crying out for clarity.

The 45-year-old founder and chief executive of Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, meets the in an upmarket London hotel after one of the most tumultuous

Observer

weeks in the short history of digital money.

Binance was forced to suspend its bitcoin business on 13 June for a few hours. On the same day, a major crypto lender, Celsius, also paused withdrawals. Then a big crypto hedge fund admitted it was in trouble. Finally, last Saturday, in a symbolic moment, bitcoin fell below $20,000. The cornerstone of crypto has lost more than half its value this year, leaving both professional and amateur investors nursing steep losses.

Often referred to by the nickname CZ (see-zee), Zhao is dressed in the classic tech-tycoon mix of formal dark suit with a company T-shirt and trainers. He says he is travelling from country to country at the moment, meeting with “different government officials, regulators”.

Despite his softly spoken manner, he is on a mission to convince. The conversation gets hooked on semantics at times – perhaps a response to the level of scrutiny he and his business are under. Asked if he still considers the recent crypto market moves to be “normal”, as he described them this month, Zhao says: “Normal depends on how you look at it … everybody has a different definition of normal … fluctuations in price is normal.”

There is a similar focus on meaning when Zhao is asked about money laundering – “the word is very different in different countries” – although he says Binance can “for sure” do a

“good enough job that the regulators are happy”.

Last June, the Financial Conduct Authority ordered Binance to stop all regulated activities in Britain, saying it was “not capable of being effectively supervised”. Zhao has not given up, however, and says he is seeking a licence to operate.

Last week, Bloomberg ran an interview with him that raised the prospect