In 2013, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) probably thought he was sitting down for a chill night of poker, maybe to win a few bucks and call it a day.
Little did he know, one of his friends would casually drop a concept more bizarre than bluffing with a 2 and a 7: Bitcoin.
“What’s Bitcoin?” asked CZ, probably shuffling his chips. “Digital money that doesn’t need banks,” replied his friend, with the same nonchalance as if explaining the rules of Uno.
CZ tilted his head, intrigued. What kind of money doesn’t involve banks? Monopoly money? Chuck E. Cheese tokens?
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The Lightbulb Moment
CZ had a solid tech background, having built trading systems for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Bloomberg.
His brain immediately went into overdrive. Digital money? Decentralized? No banks? Forget poker—CZ was suddenly all in on this mysterious Bitcoin thing.
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From Shanghai Apartment to Bitcoin Fortune
While most people dip their toes into Bitcoin, CZ decided to dive headfirst.
In a move that screams, “YOLO before YOLO was cool,” CZ sold his entire Shanghai apartment and put the proceeds into Bitcoin.
Imagine his realtor’s face:
Realtor: “What’s your plan after selling?”
CZ: “I’m putting it all into magic internet money.”
Realtor: “...Cool, good luck with that.”
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Climbing the Crypto Ladder
CZ didn’t just stop at investing—he got involved. He became the Head of Development at Blockchain.info, working alongside early Bitcoin pioneers.
He also served as CTO at OKCoin, where he probably thought, Hey, I could build something better than this.
Spoiler alert: He did.
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Enter Binance: The Big Bang Moment
In 2017, CZ launched Binance with $15 million raised through an ICO.
To everyone’s surprise (except CZ’s), Binance skyrocketed to become the world’s largest crypto exchange in just a few months.
It was like opening a lemonade stand and suddenly owning all the lemonade in the world.
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From Poker Chips to Bitcoin Billionaire
That casual poker night turned CZ’s life upside down.
What started as curiosity about Bitcoin turned into a full-blown revolution of the financial system.
CZ went from shuffling cards to reshuffling the global economy.
Today, CZ is a billionaire and a crypto legend, and his friends from that poker night? Well, let’s just say they’re probably kicking themselves for folding on Bitcoin.
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Moral of the Story
The next time you’re playing poker and someone mentions a wacky new idea, listen carefully.
It might just be your ticket to building a global empire—or at least owning a lot of imaginary internet money.
(But maybe don’t sell your house... yet.)
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