Everyone will have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of AI agents making payments in cryptocurrencies. This opinion was expressed by Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and former CEO of Binance, on the All-In podcast.

"They will pay for hotels, book restaurants, and conduct transactions for millions more people," he noted.

The entrepreneur did not specify a particular crypto project that could provide the necessary functionality due to potential impacts on token prices.

Digital assistants won't work with banks because of AML/KYC regulations and the lack of infrastructure with the required capacity.

Additionally, agents will be able to trade cryptocurrencies and other assets on behalf of users.

Regarding the digital asset industry as a whole, Zhao mentioned that he used to be a Bitcoin maximalist, but that is now in the past. He believes digital gold lacks fungibility and privacy.

"I think privacy plays a fundamental role in our society. But right now, Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies do not provide it sufficiently. BTC was designed to be pseudo-anonymous — every transaction on the blockchain can be traced, especially now with centralized exchanges and KYC," CZ stated.

Zhao provided an example where privacy is crucial. If a person books a hotel and everyone knows their address, it poses a security risk.

The Journey from China to Canada

Zhao shared his experience of moving from China to Canada. His father left for studies in 1984 — five years before the Tiananmen Square protests. He visited family about twice a year but spent most of his time in the northern neighbor of the U.S.

It took several years for CZ and his mother to receive visas. After arriving in Vancouver, he started working at McDonald's at age 14. The future entrepreneur worked during the school year and summer to pay for his education, with some financial help from family.

The former CEO of Binance graduated with a debt of $32,000, which his boss Mike Fisher helped him pay off.

"Canada is amazing in that you can get an education without being crushed by unmanageable debt. In the U.S., that's often not the case," he remarked.

Zhao does not consider himself a computer prodigy. He found programming interesting and described himself as a "normal developer." By the ages of 28-30, CZ moved away from coding to focus on business development and sales.

After his studies, Zhao went for an internship in Tokyo, where he wrote software for an order execution system — essentially the same foundation that underpins Binance today.

In November 2001, CZ moved to New York to work at Bloomberg, where he spent four years. In early 2005, he left to fly to Shanghai to launch a new IT startup with friends, working there until 2013.

Bitcoin — The Second Internet

In 2012, Zhao shifted his focus to Bitcoin. In 2013, he was advised to invest 10% of his capital in it. It took him six months to understand how the first cryptocurrency worked. By the end of the year, he told himself:

"I am convinced. I am ready."

In December, he flew to a conference in Las Vegas, where Vitalik Buterin, Charlie Lee, and many other now-famous figures were present. Shortly before, Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road had been arrested.

CZ told his partners that Bitcoin was the most important thing in his life, one of two fundamental technologies alongside the internet. He sold his apartment in Shanghai for about $900,000 and invested in cryptocurrency.

At the same time, Zhao quit his old job and sought a new one in the Bitcoin industry. He was offered a position at BTCC but eventually met Roger Ver and became the third person on the Blockchain.info team.

After working there for six to seven months, Zhao left for OKCoin. He also did not stay long there, quitting in early 2015 to create an exchange engine in Tokyo with a couple of old colleagues. However, due to their lack of knowledge of Japanese, instead of launching their own platform, the team focused on providing services to others — selling a licensed trading system.

The Birth of Binance

In March 2017, the Chinese government shut down most of CZ's client companies. By the end of May, the team decided to create a clone of Poloniex (then the largest exchange). Zhao wanted to build his own platform since the engine was already ready. Thus, Binance was born.

Shortly after, the developers conducted an ICO, selling BNB tokens. About 20,000 people participated, with 80-90% from China.

In September, Chinese authorities issued a ban on crypto exchanges, ICOs, and mining, prompting the team to relocate to Tokyo.

BNB was initially sold for $0.10, then dropped to $0.06, but soon began to rise rapidly.

Binance grew, and after a couple of years, the team decided to establish a separate legal entity in the U.S. — Binance US. Meanwhile, FTX was gaining traction, and CZ invested in the platform, at one point owning about 20% of it.

Binance exited as a shareholder of FTX, which was valued at $32 billion.

Later, CZ discussed the legal proceedings in the U.S., where he pleaded guilty and served four months in prison.

Life After Binance

After his release from prison, Zhao began consulting governments on creating crypto regulatory policies. He also invests in blockchain, AI, and biotech, assists various teams, and develops the educational project Giggle Academy.

Zhao stated that he does not want to issue a token for the academy, fearing it would attract speculators. However, there are benefits to this step: a digital asset could incentivize learning, and teachers could prepare new material.

Regarding his departure from Binance, CZ expressed relief, as he no longer needs to manage the exchange. He now has more time for himself and his family.

As a reminder, in January 2026, Zhao identified tokenization, payments, and AI as key directions for the crypto industry.