CZ Binance CEO Interview (2019): What Changed by 2026?

I caught up with then-Binance CEO CZ (Changpeng Zhao) at Binance Blockchain Week in January 2019. I asked him about the future of the exchange, Binance Chain, Binance DEX and security token offerings (STOs).

Editor's note — August 13, 2026: This is a historical interview, not a conversation with Binance's current CEO. Richard Teng became CEO in November 2023 after CZ resigned. The original Q&A is preserved below, with new context kept in separate update boxes so the interview remains an authentic record of what was said in 2019.

Binance and CZ: what changed after this interview?

2019 topic	Status by August 2026
Binance CEO	Richard Teng is CEO. CZ remains Binance's founder and former CEO.
CZ's legal status	CZ pleaded guilty in November 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program, received four months' imprisonment and a US$50 million fine in April 2024, and received a full federal pardon on October 21, 2025.
Binance corporate case	Binance pleaded guilty in the U.S. resolution and agreed to approximately US$4.3 billion in penalties plus compliance remediation and monitoring obligations.
Binance Chain	It was later called BNB Beacon Chain. Validators stopped processing transactions after BC Fusion consolidated functionality onto BNB Smart Chain in 2024.
Binance DEX	The original order-book DEX belonged to the retired Beacon Chain era; it should not be confused with decentralized applications on BNB Smart Chain.
BNB Smart Chain	The active EVM-compatible chain uses BNB for gas, staking and governance-related functions.

A presidential pardon does not make CZ Binance's CEO again, and it does not undo Binance's separate corporate guilty plea or compliance commitments. Product availability and legal entities also differ by jurisdiction; check Binance's current local terms rather than relying on 2019 plans.

Binance CEO Interview: Future of Exchange, Binance DEX, and BNB

Watch on YouTube

Binance CEO Interview: Future of Exchange, Binance DEX, and BNB

To find out more about Binance, we have full Binance Exchange Review.

CZ’s vision for Binance and Crypto ecosystem

Historical context: The market comments and Bitcoin prices in this section refer to January 2019. They are preserved as interview quotes and are not current market analysis.

Michael: What do you think about the crypto space at the moment?

CZ: Personally, I think we are in a better place than we were this time last year. We are healthier than ever and there are tons of great things to invest in. The valuations are high and those who are building now have really good products, contrary to how it was when the market was high. Everyone at the conference has many ideas and more people are enthusiastic. The number of people going to conferences, the number of people working in this industry is increasing so the industry still going very strong even though the price of dropped a little bit since last year but if you look at two years ago it was like $300 for a Bitcoin so today’s 3000 it’s not too bad at all.

Michael: What’s the vision for Binance going into 2019?

CZ: We want to build five to ten Fiat on-ramps around different parts of the world hopefully spreading out from different continents. We see that as a limiting factor for the market and we also see there is an overwhelming need for it in the Jersey market. We want money coming in from the fiat market but on the flip side, we also see the need for a decentralized exchange.

2026 context: Binance subsequently expanded fiat access through multiple regional entities and payment partners, but availability has changed repeatedly with licenses, banking relationships and local regulation. Readers should not infer that a fiat route mentioned in 2019 is available in their country today.

Binance DEX – Decentralized Exchange built on Binance Chain

Binance DEX: Decentralized exchange

2026 context: This section refers to the original Binance Chain and Binance DEX. Binance Chain was later named BNB Beacon Chain and has been retired. BNB Smart Chain is a different, EVM-compatible chain that absorbed key functionality through BC Fusion. BNB Chain's recovery documentation says only eligible mirrored BEP2 assets can be recovered after the shutdown, with the hosted recovery tool discontinued from July 2026 in favor of a self-service process.

Michael: What is happening with the decentralized exchange? Will they be competing against each other?

CZ: I don’t think it competes at all. There are three categories really so there are people who use Fiat to crypto centralized exchanges and now you can’t really decentralize anyway because the banking relationship you can’t do it. Then there are people who are using crypto to crypto centralizing because there are very high liquidity faster systems etc and then this exchange you got to rely on exchange some people view that as less secure, some people view that is more secure than doing themselves and then there are the guys who want to control their own private Keys who want to be more anonymous. So most of the guys in the core community are heavy power users and they’re loud they speak more and the others, they want to use Dex so we see that as not really competing we’re just offering different solutions to different people and we always let the user choose and we let the market choose. Overall, most people think decentralized exchanges will be the future.

M: Will we see familiar tokens on the decentralized exchange?

CZ: I think over time we will see more coins traded on the decentralized exchange because there’s less control we already have confirmation of a number of large projects were doing that they have to migrate completely from Ethereum on to finance. So, basically, if you’re only using ERC-20 as a token there’s no real reason for you to stay on Ethereum. There’s a lot of benefits with Binance, lesser cost transactions and it integrates a native Dex decentralized exchange so you don’t have to use a slower more expensive distance-wise exchange. So the Binance chain is actually a very simple chain where to create a token you don’t write a small contract so you just you just specify a few parameters you specify the token name the token symbol and how many decimals you have and pay a relatively large fee initially as we want to block out the scammers. Pay a fee in and boom you have your current you have your token so it’s much easier to use much less programming involved and so because we don’t have the smart contract there will be no EVMs making virtual machines to be faster so it’s a much condensed special-purpose chain.

Security Token Offerings (STOs)

2026 context: CZ's answer reflected Binance's priorities in 2019. Regulation became central to Binance's later operations: the company and CZ entered U.S. guilty pleas in 2023, and Richard Teng's tenure has emphasized compliance and licensed regional operations.

M: What are your opinions on STO’s?

CZ: It is definitely a very interesting space but excuse relates very heavily to regulatory regulations so we already have regulatory licenses at different places with different partners long term. It’s not our strength so we’re kind of waiting to see how other people do it and once other people figure out what they do. We can potentially copy them shamelessly and then grow that. It requires a lot of lawyers a lot of guys in the regulator space so it’s one for the future, we are more technology-based right now.

CZ showing off his new Binance Tattoo

Getting to know CZ

2026 context: CZ is no longer Binance CEO. His October 2025 federal pardon is part of his personal legal history; Richard Teng continues to be identified by Binance as CEO.

M: What’s the weirdest place you have used Twitter?

CZ: I don’t know, I love Twitter. I am just myself and it’s nice to interact with the community and get feedback. Sometimes I attack people sometimes I am polite, I just am myself.

M: Tell us about your Binance tattoo?

CZ: I was in Singapore with Gareth and Luke, and Luke had a bitcoin, coin finance tattoo and he said he was going to get a Binance one so I thought I should get one also. Then Gareth said he wanted a Binance tattoo too. So the three of us went to a tattoo shop in Singapore I got it like about a month ago so now it’s healed really well I like it.

M: What’s your next tattoo going to be?

CZ: Yeah actually I’m okay with one for now. I think for me the logo is very meaningful, I think if you want to put something on your body it has to be meaningful to you. I like it, yeah but I don’t think I’ll get a second tattoo anytime soon!

Frequently asked questions

When was this CZ interview recorded?

The interview was recorded at Binance Blockchain Week and published on January 24, 2019. Statements about prices, Binance products and future plans should be read in that historical context.

Is CZ still the CEO of Binance?

No. CZ resigned in November 2023. Richard Teng became Binance CEO and still held that role during our August 2026 review.

Why did CZ resign from Binance?

CZ resigned when he pleaded guilty in the United States to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. Binance entered separate corporate guilty pleas and a multibillion-dollar resolution.

Was CZ sent to prison?

Yes. He was sentenced on April 30, 2024 to four months' imprisonment and a US$50 million fine, according to the U.S. Office of the Pardon Attorney's record.

Was CZ pardoned?

Yes. President Donald Trump granted CZ a full and unconditional federal pardon on October 21, 2025. The pardon did not appoint him as CEO or cancel Binance's separate corporate obligations.

What happened to the Binance DEX discussed here?

It was built for the original Binance Chain, later called BNB Beacon Chain. That chain was retired through BC Fusion in 2024, so the interview's DEX and token-migration discussion is historical.

Is BNB Smart Chain the same as the 2019 Binance Chain?

No. They were originally separate chains. BNB Smart Chain is EVM-compatible; BC Fusion later consolidated Beacon Chain functionality onto it.

Can old BEP2 tokens still be recovered?

Only some tokens that were mirrored to BEP20 are eligible. BNB Chain began sunsetting its hosted recovery tool in 2026, and from July 1, 2026 users must follow the official self-service recovery instructions. Unmirrored assets may be unrecoverable.

Is this interview financial or legal advice?

No. It is an archived interview with added factual context. Exchange access, products, regulations and asset risks vary by jurisdiction and change over time.