Who is Wei Zhou, one of the most mentioned people in CZ’s book?

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) dedicated a considerable portion of his autobiography, Freedom of Money, to talking about somebody called Wei Zhou.

Indeed, Zhao is this fifth most mentioned person in the book, tied with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) with 23 mentions. But who is he?

Zhao joined Binance from Goldman Sachs in 2018 as its first chief financial officer (CFO).

He’d previously shepherded two companies through NYSE and NASDAQ IPOs, and in Binance’s eyes, he brought institutional credibility that the then-one-year-old crypto exchange desperately needed.

Zhou is now CEO of Coins.ph, a Philippines-based crypto wallet and exchange that he acquired from Indonesian super-app Gojek in 2022 for roughly $200 million. 

He also advises Old Fashion Research, a blockchain fund run by former Binance executives, as well as serving as vice chairman of the gay dating app Grindr.

Wei Zhou : From CZ’s first CFO to his nemesis

CZ used Freedom of Money, written largely during his time in prison and published on April 8, to paint Zhao as an unreliable subordinate-turned-antagonist.

Specifically, it frames his tenure around two grievances. 

The first involves Zhao’s role in Binance’s FTX investment. 

FTX launched in May 2019 and within months, SBF approached Binance for investment. Zhao championed the deal, yet CZ claims that he initially declined. 

However, by late 2019, FTX lowered its valuation and sweetened the offer with a Binance Coin (BNB) for FTX token (FTT) token swap. Binance agreed, taking a 20% stake in SBF’s company that would implode three years later.

Fortunately for CZ, Binance was able to sell its FTX equity, before FTX went bankrupt.

Fintech Alliance Philippines and Binance

CZ also complained about Zhao’s role in Binance’s Philippine expansion. 

In September 2022, Zhao wrote to the chairman of Fintech Alliance Philippines, questioning a blockchain education partnership between the Alliance and Binance. 

The letter, which a Philippine crypto publication published in full, called Binance an unregistered virtual asset service provider. 

Zhao claimed that Coins.ph was “astounded” by the Binance-Alliance collaboration, an assertion that CZ frames as an underhanded attempt to block Binance from the Philippine market.

Unsurprisingly, Zhao denied the framing and told reporters, “We did not block Binance from joining. We asked to be involved in blockchain education initiatives of Fintech Alliance Philippines.”

Partial financials for his CFO

Basically, CZ’s memoir casts Zhou as a disloyal insider. However, other reports tell a different story about who kept whom in the dark. 

Reuters reported in December 2022 that Zhao never had access to Binance’s full financial accounts during his tenure as CFO of nearly three years. Reuters says that two former colleagues confirmed that claim.

It also claimed the world’s largest crypto exchange ran its finances as a “black box” obscured from even its own CFO.

Zhao wasn’t the only executive to discover CZ’s centralized grip over Binance. 

Binance.US, launched in 2019 while Zhao still served as global CFO, was meant to operate independently. 

However, its first CEO, Catherine Coley, was replaced without explanation. Her successor, former US Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, lasted less than four months.

Brooks later testified concerningly that he realized CZ ran the US entity, not him. 

The SEC would eventually allege that Binance.US was a sham, controlled behind the scenes by CZ while publicly claiming independence.

Zhao left Binance in June 2021, the same summer Brooks walked out of Binance.US. Binance cited personal reasons for both departures.

Read more: How the battle between Binance and FTX went from bad to worse

Binance Avengers

After leaving, Zhao created a private group that CZ’s memoir called the “Binance Avengers.” It gathered disgruntled former employees to criticize the exchange. 

CZ’s book claims some members later lost money after transferring assets to FTX.

The Binance supremo also places Zhao on an informal enemies list alongside SBF and OKX founder Star Xu. As Protos reported, the CZ-Xu grudge escalated to a $1 billion bet within days of the book’s release.

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