CZ’s $900K Bitcoin Bet During the 2014 Market Crash

• CZ sold his $900K Shanghai apartment to buy Bitcoin near $400 despite having no stable job.
• Six months of studying Bitcoin’s white paper shaped his high-conviction investment move.
• That early Bitcoin bet came years before he founded Binance as a global exchange.

Changpeng Zhao has revealed that he sold his Shanghai apartment for roughly $900,000 to purchase Bitcoin during a major market downturn in 2014, despite not having a stable job at the time.

According to Zhao, his conviction in Bitcoin developed after first encountering the asset in 2013. He spent about six months studying the Bitcoin white paper and engaging with early community members before deciding to commit capital. However, by the time he felt fully convinced, Bitcoin had already surged from around $70 to above $1,000 in late 2013.

Shortly afterward, the market corrected. As Bitcoin fell toward $400 in early 2014, Zhao chose to sell his apartment and invest the proceeds in the asset. He described averaging purchases of around $600 before the deeper drop, ultimately increasing exposure as prices declined further.

Conviction Over Career Stability

At the time of the purchase, Zhao had already decided to leave his previous role and pursue opportunities within the Bitcoin industry. He later joined Blockchain.info (now Blockchain.com) as one of its early team members before moving on to other exchange roles.

Zhao said the decision was driven by his belief that Bitcoin represented one of the biggest technological innovations of his lifetime, comparable to the early internet. He viewed the risk as asymmetric, limited downside relative to long-term potential upside.

From Early Risk to Global Exchange

The high-conviction bet came years before Zhao founded Binance in 2017. What began as early industry experimentation, including exchange infrastructure development and trading system architecture, eventually evolved into one of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms.

Zhao’s account addresses the risk tolerance and capital concentration that characterized many early Bitcoin adopters. While the long-term value of that purchase fluctuated through multiple market cycles, Zhao’s move remains one of the more notable examples of early executive-level conviction in Bitcoin’s formative years.

Related: Binance Co-Founder Says Bitcoin’s $200K Price Is Only a Matter of Time