The best relationship between CZ and Binance: mutual achievements can still be achieved after unbinding

At the end of September 2024, after completing his 119-day prison sentence, Zhao Changpeng (CZ) returned to the public eye with a simple "gm" (good morning) tweet. This tweet quickly triggered a huge response from the crypto community, receiving 13.88 million views, 190,000 likes and 50,000 comments, and many people in the crypto industry congratulated the founder of Binance.

In May of this year, Zhao Changpeng accepted the charges of the U.S. Department of Justice against Binance for alleged violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-sanction regulations, and decided to serve his sentence and go to the United States to serve a 4-month sentence. According to the settlement agreement reached between Binance and the U.S. Department of Justice, although CZ can no longer directly participate in the management of the company, as the largest shareholder, he still has influence on major decisions of the company. Despite this, his future focus has shifted to areas such as education and charity, including the online education platform Giggle Academy that he is promoting.

In the 10 months since Zhao Changpeng left the position of CEO, Binance's performance has proved the solidity of the organizational structure and operating mechanism he has built. Without CZ's direct leadership, Binance has maintained stable operations. According to data, although Binance's ecological asset BNB fell 13% in the early days after his resignation, and a large amount of funds flowed out of the platform in the short term, the company's market share gradually recovered. The team led by new CEO Richard Teng and co-founder He Yi successfully coped with the challenge. Binance's market share rebounded to around 50%, and the number of registered users exceeded 200 million in the second quarter of 2024, re-establishing its leading position in the global crypto trading platform.

Zhao Changpeng's evaluation of the company's future also reflects his confidence in the team. The day after his sentence ended, he tweeted, "Binance seems to be doing well without me in the back seat, which is great. This is the dream of every founder!" This evaluation undoubtedly made the Binance team excited.

To some extent, Binance's smooth operation and recovery prove the effectiveness of the mechanism and culture that Zhao Changpeng has built for the company over the past 7 years. He has formulated and implemented a series of important principles, including "never trading and investing in user assets", "not using native tokens as collateral", and increasing transparency through public reserve proofs.These principles not only ensure the safety of user funds, but also help Binance maintain steady development in the volatile crypto market.

Changpeng Zhao's vision and strategy have laid a solid foundation for Binance, and even if he no longer serves as CEO, the company will still be able to operate normally. In particular, the decentralized and flat management model he advocates allows the Binance team to respond to various challenges independently and efficiently. For example, Binance has established a "Safe Asset Fund for Users" (SAFU) to provide users with additional financial protection, and regularly discloses reserve certificates to ensure the safety of user funds. These measures have greatly enhanced the trust of users. Even during his resignation, Binance never stopped deposits, withdrawals, and transactions, avoiding the suspension or bankruptcy of other exchanges due to management changes.

Binance’s current CEO Richard Teng has led the company to make significant progress in global compliance. Since Teng took over, the company has hired more than 1,000 employees globally to further strengthen its compliance team. In partnership with Chief Compliance Officer Noah Perlman, he drives the implementation of global compliance programs and works closely with regulators and industry leaders to ensure Binance’s operations comply with regulatory requirements. These measures not only enhance user trust, but also drive significant growth in the number of institutional users.

For Zhao Changpeng, life after serving his sentence will be more diverse. He revealed that he will focus on promoting the development of Giggle Academy, an online education platform that is committed to providing free, fun and accessible learning tools to children around the world. In addition, he plans to continue investing in the blockchain, artificial intelligence and biotechnology fields, while also engaging in philanthropy and completing the book he is writing.

Giggle Academy is an important part of his future life, and its logo design also pays tribute to Binance. The black and yellow colors and the playful expression of the sunflower face convey his deep feelings for Binance. Changpeng Zhao also said that his investment focus will continue to be in the blockchain field, but he is concerned about the long-term impact rather than short-term returns.

Although Changpeng Zhao has withdrawn from Binance’s day-to-day operations, his influence in the crypto field is still closely related to Binance’s future development direction.Whether it is the online education projects he promoted or his continued investment in blockchain technology, they will continue to influence the entire industry. His departure has opened up a new direction for Binance, and his future choices are full of infinite possibilities.