The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-04 · by David Yaffe-Bellany
One morning in June, cryptocurrency mogul Changpeng Zhao pulled up to the St. Regis resort in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in a Nissan SUV.
asserted
Zhao → pull → SUV
Zhao is the richest man in crypto, worth an estimated $US114 billion ($164 billion), and he lives in a villa nearby, with nine bedrooms, four bodyguards, a chef and a yacht.
asserted
he → estimate → bedrooms
But he also likes to play the part of a “normal dude”, as he often describes himself, and that day he had offered to give me a personal tour of the city.
asserted
he → like → city
Not long ago, US authorities brought a criminal case against him for his management of Binance, a crypto exchange depicted in court papers as a haven for Russian money launderers, Iranian sanctions evaders and Islamic State terrorists.
asserted
authorities → bring → launderers
Zhao pleaded guilty and escaped with his fortune intact.
asserted
fortune → plead → ?
After serving a four-month prison sentence, he returned to Abu Dhabi, still Binance’s majority shareholder and still the most powerful figure in the industry.
asserted
he → serve → industry
These days, Zhao, 49, moves through the world like a head of state, flying around Asia on his private jet to advise governments on crypto regulation.
asserted
Zhao → move → regulation
Zhao’s most influential allies are a pair of powerful ruling families.
asserted
allies → rule → families
One is the clan that runs the UAE, which wants his help creating a technology powerhouse in the desert.
asserted
which → run → desert
Last year, Binance forged a business relationship with World Liberty Financial, the crypto start-up founded by US President Donald Trump and his three sons.
asserted
Binance → forge → Trump
World Liberty generated $US799 million for Trump last year — his single most lucrative asset.
asserted
Liberty → generate → Trump
Trump pardoned Zhao last October, a move widely criticised as a quid pro quo.
asserted
Trump → pardon → quo
Known in the industry as “CZ”, Zhao often avoids reporters, but he met me several times this year, eager to put a friendlier gloss on his career at Binance, which still hasn’t stanched the flow of dirty money.
asserted
which → know → money
For years, his true calling has been what academics term “jurisdictional arbitrage” — moving from country to country in search of a legal framework pliable enough to accommodate his appetite for risk and growth.
asserted
academics → term → risk
In Abu Dhabi, he may have found an ideal base of operations.
uncertain
he → find → operations
As we drove into the city, we passed a string of impressive compounds and drove towards the presidential palace, Qasr Al Watan, whose striking white dome resembles the Taj Mahal.
Zhao was growing animated.
asserted
Zhao → drive → Mahal
Democracy has been hailed as, like, the holy grail for the last couple hundred years, but democracies are inefficient,” he said.
asserted
he → hail → years
“If you get a benevolent dictator, it’s actually extremely efficient.
asserted
it → get → dictator
You don’t waste time on a lot of frivolous stuff.”
asserted
You → waste → stuff
Lately, this top-down model of business and politics, simultaneously medieval and ultramodern, has gained traction in the United States.
asserted
model → gain → States
On a trip to Abu Dhabi last year, Trump called the nation’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, “a very strong man” and “a man of vision like few others”.
asserted
Trump → call → others
Zach Witkoff, the son of one of Trump’s top advisers, put it more bluntly at a crypto conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in May 2025.
uncertain
Witkoff → put → May
“We really need to take a page out of His Highness’ and the Emirates’ book,” Witkoff said.
asserted
Witkoff → need → Highness
“They are just an amazing example of how you can lead with innovation while also maintaining your family values.”
asserted
you → lead → values
One day early this year, Zhao was working when the windows began to shake.
asserted
windows → work → ?
He got up and walked onto his balcony, where he saw a trail of smoke in the sky.
asserted
he → get → sky
Zhao lives on Saadiyat Island, an enclave of Abu Dhabi across the Persian Gulf from Iran, which had just fired a missile at the UAE.
asserted
which → live → UAE
It was the start of a geopolitical crisis that has destabilised the region, but Zhao was not overly concerned.
asserted
Zhao → destabilise → region
He returned to work.
asserted
He → return → work
Until he settled in the UAE, Zhao was a man without a country.
asserted
Zhao → settle → country
He was born in China, then moved to Canada with his family at the age of 12.
asserted
He → bear → 12
After attending McGill University, he worked a series of technology jobs.
asserted
he → attend → jobs
In July 2013, over a poker game in Shanghai, a colleague suggested he check out “this new thing called bitcoin”.
uncertain
he → suggest → thing
After a few months of study, Zhao made a radical bet.
asserted
Zhao → make → bet
He sold the family home — a three-bedroom apartment in Shanghai where he and his wife were raising two children — and ploughed the $US900,000 in proceeds into bitcoin.
asserted
he → sell → bitcoin
Zhao went on to work at a succession of crypto start-ups in Asia.
asserted
Zhao → go → Asia
In July 2017, Zhao founded Binance.
asserted
Zhao → found → Binance
Within a few months, it was the largest exchange in the world, a title it has never relinquished.
asserted
it → relinquish → world
Binance’s success rested on two pivotal insights.
asserted
success → rest → insights
The first was that crypto investors were drunk on risk and would never be satisfied swapping dollars or yen merely for an equivalent amount of crypto.
asserted
investors → swap → crypto
…and 116 more, not listed.
The Aporia
