CZ Says He Underestimated Legal and Compliance Risks While Building Binance

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said that, if given the chance to return to 2017, he would focus far more on legal, compliance, and political issues alongside product development, reflecting on lessons learned from building the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Speaking on the Talking Tokens Podcast, Zhao said his early priorities centered on developing products and strengthening platform security. However, he acknowledged that he underestimated the complexity of legal and regulatory requirements, particularly how different jurisdictions apply their laws and the broad reach of certain U.S. regulations. 

Zhao said he later came to appreciate that some U.S. laws can have global implications and lengthy lookback periods, making legal and compliance considerations a critical part of operating an international business. 

He also shared advice for entrepreneurs, saying founders should release products as early as possible and refine them based on user feedback rather than waiting for a fully polished launch. 

Looking back on Binance’s own product strategy, Zhao said one decision he would change is the timing of the exchange’s derivatives business. If starting over, he said, he would have launched Binance Futures much earlier. 

The comments offer Zhao’s retrospective assessment of the strategic and regulatory lessons he believes were most significant during Binance’s growth from its 2017 launch into one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

Source: Talking Tokens Podcast