Changpeng Zhao denies Hurun's estimate of his net worth at 190 billion; Binance's profits spark controversy.

Amid the booming cryptocurrency market, Changpeng Zhao has been frequently making headlines recently.

In the latest "2025 Hurun Rich List," Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, is prominently listed, ranking 13th with a fortune of 190 billion yuan.

Although he immediately objected, saying, "Nonsense, dividing by 100 is about right," speculation about his true wealth continues.

In stark contrast to Zhao's low-key statement, some in the crypto community believe his wealth is severely underestimated, even comparing Binance's profits to those of Alibaba.

Estimated net worth of hundreds of billions and denial by the person involved

The controversy originated from the publicly available data of the Hurun Rich List. According to the "2025 Hurun Rich List," Zhao Changpeng's wealth was estimated at 190 billion yuan. The Hurun Rich List's calculation method is usually highly correlated with the company's market capitalization or publicly available transactions, but for unlisted giant private companies like Binance, the valuation method is more complex and less transparent.

Zhao Changpeng's response directly challenges the authority of this list.

If true, his statement about "dividing by 100" would completely overturn the outside world's perception of his wealth. This statement quickly spread in the market, sparking widespread discussion about whether his wealth was overestimated or whether he was intentionally downplaying it. On the social platform X, opinion leaders in the crypto field offered drastically different views. According to user @cryptobraveHQ's analysis, the Hurun Rich List's valuation "is likely intentionally presented and does not accurately reflect CZ's (Zhao Changpeng's) wealth." The analysis points out that Changpeng Zhao's family office, YZi Labs, alone manages $10 billion, and there are public statements claiming that Binance's revenue reached $16.8 billion in 2024. Changpeng Zhao also holds a significant proportion of BNB and other cryptocurrencies such as BTC. An even more compelling calculation comes from Binance's token burning mechanism. The analysis mentions that Binance completed its 33rd quarterly BNB burn on October 27th, burning tokens with a market value of approximately $1.208 billion. Based on the early setting in Binance's white paper, which states that the value of BNB burned each quarter is equivalent to 20% of the company's quarterly profit, it can be estimated that Binance's profit for that quarter was approximately $6.4 billion. For comparison, Alibaba's profit for the second quarter of this year was $4.678 billion.

The core of the valuation controversy: BNB burning mechanism

However, the foundation of the above startling inference is not unbreakable. The core of the controversy lies in whether the calculation method that directly links the value of BNB burning to profits is still valid.

Some argue that Binance may have modified its rules regarding BNB burning in its white paper. The initial clear percentage of "20% of profits" may have become vague in subsequent updates, or even decoupled from profits. Therefore, currently, using the amount of BNB burned to accurately deduce Binance's profits may lack a solid basis.

The controversy surrounding this technical detail is precisely the key reason why outsiders struggle to see Binance's true financial situation. Without audited financial statements, any estimates based on publicly available business data (such as token burning) are merely market speculation, not definitive facts.