If only we had a time machine and could go back to 2014. More than just being able to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy, Taylor Swift's “1989”, and the Kermit sipping tea meme for the first time, what else would you do?
Would you tell people to avoid the ice bucket challenge, warn Kim Kardashian against marrying Kanye West, or what about giving Robin Williams one last hug?
2014 was a massive year for many reasons, but when it comes to Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, it was a year where one simple investment secured his future in a big way.
While Zhao has since served time in prison for enabling money laundering, his pardon at the hands of President Donald Trump means he can go back to enjoying his crypto fortune.
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With Forbes giving him an estimated net worth of $78.8 billion in December 2025, that makes Zhao the richest Canadian in the world, and currently, the 22nd-richest person in the world.
Zhao's massive fortune comes off the back of some savvy cryptocurrency investments, namely the fact that he was an early adopter of Bitcoin.
Speaking to Nas Daily's Yassin back in 2022, Zhao explained how his mother thought he was crazy for pursuing a crypto career instead of a more traditional job path: "My friends thought I was crazy because I was selling my apartment in Shanghai to go into crypto and I was quitting my job.
"So I was jobless [and] homeless. By most people's definitions, that is crazy.”
Back then, he purchased 1,500 BTC at $600 per coin, which is a far cry from the current price of $87,778.
Those same friends proved to be right (initially), and when he lost some $700,000 just two months later, his mother branded him a 'stupid kid'. Still, Zhao stuck with it and explained: “Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, back in 2013-2014 was one of those really unique opportunities where it was early stage.
“Only a small number of people got it, and it's going to be a huge future, so I told myself I'm not going to miss it."
That gamble paid off, and as Bitcoin started to bounce back up, Zhao threw himself into crypto. This involved spending a reported 9 am to midnight, working on blockchain technology seven days a week for five years, but when you end up with nearly $80 billion in the bank, we'd argue it's worth it.
Binance boomed to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world and boast over 100 million users. Even though Zhao wanted to crack the Top 10 in three years, it soared to the top in just six months.
Mulling over his success, Zhao explained:” I don't think money is the most important factor, I don't focus on that, I focus on building products people use, how to make that the most efficient, most impactful thing for the world."
While this legacy has been somewhat tarnished by Zhao's time behind bars, there's no escaping his amazing trajectory, all thanks to dismissing his critics and going with his gut when it came to Bitcoin.