#235 Changpeng Zhao: The Meteoric Rise of Crypto Exchange Binance

Support the show, consider donating:
BTC: 1CD83r9EzFinDNWwmRW4ssgCbhsM5bxXwg (https://epicenter.tv/tipbtc)
BCC: 1M4dvWxjL5N9WniNtatKtxW7RcGV73TQTd (http://epicenter.tv/tipbch)
ETH: 0x8cdb49ca5103Ce06717C4daBBFD4857183f50935 (https://epicenter.tv/tipeth)

The rise of Binance is one of the most astonishing stories in the blockchain space. Within less than a year of its launch, Binance has become the most popular crypto exchange trading over $2bn per day. In the past quarter, Binance made profits of $200m, likely the fastest company ever to reach this success.

Binance Founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (""CZ"") joined us to discuss why he started Binance and the extraordinary organization they built. We discussed the role of the Binance token, how their strong commitment to values helped build a loyal community, and how he sees the organization evolve in the future.

Topics discussed in this episode:
- CZ's journey in the blockchain space from blockchain.info, to OKCoin to founding Binance
- The astonishing rise of Binance to $200m/quarter profits in less than 1 year
- How Binance went from deciding to do an ICO to finishing it in 2 weeks
- Why strong values are a key differentiator for Binance
- How Binance built a vibrant and loyal community
- The critical role of the Binance token in its success
- The principles CZ uses to run an efficient distributed organization
- How regulatory competition is rapidly improving the conditions to build crypto companies
- Binance's plans to build a decentralized exchange

Links mentioned in this episode:
- Binance Website: https://www.binance.com/
- From Zero To Crypto Billionaire In Under A Year: Meet The Founder Of Binance: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamelaambler/2018/02/07/changpeng-zhao-binance-exchange-crypto-cryptocurrency/#6dc89f421eee
- The World's Biggest Crypto Exchange Is Heading to Malta: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-23/the-world-s-biggest-cryptocurrency-exchange-is-moving-to-malta
- Binance CEO: The Future of Cryptocurrency - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8XNRTfPgZI
- Binance Whitepaper: https://www.binance.com/resources/ico/Binance_WhitePaper_en.pdf
- I Don't Like Big ICOs: https://steemit.com/binance/@czbinance/5mm9uo-i-don-t-like-big-icos
- ICOs — Not Just “Good-to-Have,” But Necessary: https://medium.com/binanceexchange/icos-not-just-good-to-have-but-necessary-543916b7e76

Sponsors:
- Shapeshift: Buy and sell alt coins instantly and securely without a centralized exchange - http://epicenter.tv/shapeshift

This episode is also available on :
- Epicenter.tv: https://epicenter.tv/235
- YouTube: http://youtu.be/dEaxQneanIY
- Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-235

Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.