BNB Smashes Records: Soars to $858 ATH as Binance Co-Founder Joins World’s Wealthiest Elite

BNB just rewrote the crypto rulebook—again. The Binance Smart Chain native token rocketed past its previous ceiling, hitting an eye-watering $858 and minting fresh fortunes overnight.

How high is too high? While retail traders scramble for scraps, Binance's co-founder quietly joins the three-comma club. Another win for centralized power in a 'decentralized' ecosystem—irony tastes sweet when it's billion-dollar sweet.

Volatility alert: This parabolic move leaves even Bitcoin maximalists double-checking their portfolios. When exchange tokens outperform 'sound money,' maybe the real sound was champagne popping in boardrooms all along.

— CryptoCruize (@cryptocruizeHQ) July 28, 2025

: Best High-Risk, High-Reward crypto to Buy in July 2025

Nobody Has Benefitted More From BNB Crypto New All-Time High Than Binance Founder, CZ

The recent bullish price action of the BNB cryptocurrency has significantly increased the estimated net worth of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, although the exact figure remains unknown.

According to a 2024 forensic analysis by Forbes, the 48-year-old crypto mogul controls approximately 64% of BNB’s circulating supply, which amounts to about 90 million tokens. This alone places his net worth around $75 billion at current prices.

In addition to his BNB holdings, CZ also has a 90% stake in Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, which the Bloomberg Billionaires Index values at $60 billion. A smaller, yet noteworthy part of his wealth is associated with his asset management company, YZI Labs.

Previously known as Binance Labs, CZ rebranded the entity to YZI Labs at the beginning of 2025, focusing on investments in startup projects within the Web3, AI, and biotech sectors.

gm we’re kickstarting 2025 with a brand new name and expanded investment focus

Why YZi Labs? Pronounced “easy labs”, it reflects our mission to make innovation “easy” for builders and founders to pioneer the future.

We’re dedicated to empowering visionary founders and… https://t.co/DtlFQ6jQoO

— YZi Labs (@yzilabs) January 23, 2025

YZI Labs reportedly manages over $10 billion in assets and was co-founded by CZ and his wife, Ella Zhang, in 2018. With the recent rebranding, CZ announced that YZI Labs WOULD operate as a “family office.”

While it remains unverified, when combined with his equity stake in Binance, Zhao’s fortune could exceed $100 billion. This would place him alongside prominent tycoons like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and even the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Blockchain analytics platform Arkham estimates that Satoshi controls approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins, or about 5.2% of the total supply, which is now worth around $130 billion at current BTC prices. If these holdings remain untouched, Nakamoto would rank as the twelfth richest person in the world.

CZ Thriving After Binance Legal Issues And His Subsequent Four-Month Stint In Prison

Zhao stepped down as CEO of Binance in November 2023 and subsequently served a four-month sentence in April 2024 after pleading guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws.

The exchange paid $4.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures for various violations, and it agreed to a five-year compliance monitoring arrangement with the consulting firm Forensic Risk Alliance and the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

With a dramatic shift in crypto policy under President Donald Trump, crypto firms like Binance may be looking to return to the U.S. market. In May, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally dropped its civil case against both Zhao and Binance, marking the last major action from the SEC’s previous administration.

Additionally, the Department of Justice has disbanded its crypto enforcement task force. Ongoing investigations into Coinbase, Kraken, and other firms have also been paused or dropped, indicating a significant shift in the SEC’s regulatory approach.

Binance now appears to be quietly positioning itself for a return to the U.S. market, reportedly holding meetings with Treasury officials and exploring partnerships with politically connected crypto firms.

Next Stop For BNB Crypto: $1,000?

(COINGECKO)

With a fresh all-time high reached after seven months, the next logical step for BNB crypto appears to be the $1,000 level. It is a figure that CZ himself has often teased for BNB, even during its days as a double-digit token, highlighting his belief in the token from the outset.

BNB is now in price discovery mode, a term used to describe a token that has reached a new all-time high and lacks a price history or previous patterns to work from a technical analysis perspective. Due to this, BNB crypto could potentially get a value as high as the current market conditions and demand for the token allow.

It is less than 20% away from that coveted $1,000 level, which seems easily attainable for a leading altcoin that has shown incredible strength as we head deeper into this current bull market.

Once Bitcoin makes its next leg up and ethereum finally breaches $4,000, coupled with Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D) losing its 60% level, this will likely prove to be the catalyst to send the altcoin market into overdrive.

Once that happens, BNB crypto is likely to be one of the biggest beneficiaries, as it attempts to overtake Solana as the fifth-largest digital asset by market capitalization.