Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) devoted a substantial portion of his autobiography, Freedom of Cash, to speaking about someone referred to as Wei Zhou.
Certainly, Zhao is that this fifth most talked about particular person within the e book, tied with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) with 23 mentions. However who’s he?
Zhao joined Binance from Goldman Sachs in 2018 as its first chief monetary officer (CFO).
The ten Most Essential Individuals in CZ’s Life
Essentially the most incessantly showing particular person in CZ’s autobiography: his father (62 instances), He Yi (54), his sister (49), his mom (32), SBF (23), Zhou Wei (23), Vitalik (20), Ted (14), Heina (13), and Trump (12). pic.twitter.com/IxGPHNyPQw
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) April 14, 2026
He’d beforehand shepherded two corporations via NYSE and NASDAQ IPOs, and in Binance’s eyes, he introduced institutional credibility that the then-one-year-old crypto trade desperately wanted.
Zhou is now CEO of Cash.ph, a Philippines-based crypto pockets and trade that he acquired from Indonesian super-app Gojek in 2022 for roughly $200 million.
He additionally advises Outdated Vogue Analysis, a blockchain fund run by former Binance executives, in addition to serving as vice chairman of the homosexual courting app Grindr.
Wei Zhou : From CZ’s first CFO to his nemesis
CZ used Freedom of Cash, written largely throughout his time in jail and printed on April 8, to color Zhao as an unreliable subordinate-turned-antagonist.
Particularly, it frames his tenure round two grievances.
The primary includes Zhao’s function in Binance’s FTX funding.
FTX launched in Might 2019 and inside months, SBF approached Binance for funding. Zhao championed the deal, but CZ claims that he initially declined.
Nevertheless, by late 2019, FTX lowered its valuation and sweetened the provide with a Binance Coin (BNB) for FTX token (FTT) token swap. Binance agreed, taking a 20% stake in SBF’s firm that will implode three years later.
Happily for CZ, Binance was in a position to promote its FTX fairness, earlier than FTX went bankrupt.
Fintech Alliance Philippines and Binance
CZ additionally complained about Zhao’s function in Binance’s Philippine enlargement.
In September 2022, Zhao wrote to the chairman of Fintech Alliance Philippines, questioning a blockchain schooling partnership between the Alliance and Binance.
The letter, which a Philippine crypto publication printed in full, referred to as Binance an unregistered digital asset service supplier.
Zhao claimed that Cash.ph was “astounded” by the Binance-Alliance collaboration, an assertion that CZ frames as an underhanded try to dam Binance from the Philippine market.
Unsurprisingly, Zhao denied the framing and instructed reporters, “We didn’t block Binance from becoming a member of. We requested to be concerned in blockchain schooling initiatives of Fintech Alliance Philippines.”
Partial financials for his CFO
Principally, CZ’s memoir casts Zhou as a disloyal insider. Nevertheless, different stories inform a unique story about who stored whom in the dead of night.
Reuters reported in December 2022 that Zhao by no means had entry to Binance’s full monetary accounts throughout his tenure as CFO of almost three years. Reuters says that two former colleagues confirmed that declare.
It additionally claimed the world’s largest crypto trade ran its funds as a “black field” obscured from even its personal CFO.
Zhao wasn’t the one government to find CZ’s centralized grip over Binance.
Binance.US, launched in 2019 whereas Zhao nonetheless served as international CFO, was meant to function independently.
Nevertheless, its first CEO, Catherine Coley, was changed with out rationalization. Her successor, former US Comptroller of the Forex Brian Brooks, lasted lower than 4 months.
Brooks later testified concerningly that he realized CZ ran the US entity, not him.
The SEC would finally allege that Binance.US was a sham, managed behind the scenes by CZ whereas publicly claiming independence.
Zhao left Binance in June 2021, the identical summer season Brooks walked out of Binance.US. Binance cited private causes for each departures.
CZ vs Star Xu: $1B guess sends crypto rivalry nuclear
Binance Avengers
After leaving, Zhao created a personal group that CZ’s memoir referred to as the “Binance Avengers.” It gathered disgruntled former workers to criticize the trade.
CZ’s e book claims some members later misplaced cash after transferring property to FTX.
The Binance supremo additionally locations Zhao on an off-the-cuff enemies checklist alongside SBF and OKX founder Star Xu. As Protos reported, the CZ-Xu grudge escalated to a $1 billion guess inside days of the e book’s launch.
