Crypto giant Zhao Changpeng shared his deep insights into the future of the industry, which could be key to your layout next year.
CZ, who stepped down as CEO of Binance, recently made a rare appearance at the BNB Chain year-end AMA. Without the constraints of the CEO title, he spoke more candidly and broadly.
As someone who has experienced multiple cycles in the industry, I deeply feel that CZ's recent sharing is not a routine year-end summary, but a prediction of the crypto trends in the coming years. Next, I will combine my industry experience to summarize the highlights of this AMA.
01 Life status and role transition.
CZ used a word to describe the current state: freedom. He admitted that after the amnesty, there was a psychological feeling of 'vindication', but daily life did not change much; he still works from home every day, maintaining a habit of exercising for 30-45 minutes daily, a habit that was even developed during his time in prison.
In my view, CZ's role has already transitioned from entrepreneur to ecosystem builder. His energy is mainly allocated to four areas:
Giggle Academy: This is currently his 'pet project', a completely free educational platform, with a team of 60 serving 90,000 children.
YZ Labs: An ecological fund with a scale of about $10 billion, which has invested in nearly 70 projects by 2025, reviewing over 1,000 projects.
BNB ecosystem: No longer delving into technical details, but mentoring young entrepreneurs.
Government consultant: Discussing cryptocurrency regulatory frameworks with senior officials from more than a dozen countries, this work has taken far more time than he expected.
This transformation indicates that CZ is shifting from 'building the territory' to 'setting the rules', accelerating the maturation process of the cryptocurrency industry.
02 Prediction Markets: Open garden, not a horse racing mechanism.
In response to the question of 'why invest in multiple prediction markets at the same time,' CZ clearly denies it being a 'horse racing mechanism', instead comparing it to an 'open garden'. He retorted: 'There are multiple e-commerce platforms and multiple search engines on the internet; would you call that horse racing? This is the natural form of the market.'
YZ Labs' principle is to never make exclusive investments, especially in the early stages of projects; as long as the team is strong, they will support it. This strategy is based on three logical points:
1 Competing to enlarge the track: Different teams try different directions, serving users in different regions.
2 Validating real demand: For example, the 'locking funds while earning interest' feature launched by Probable; if users like it, other teams will naturally imitate.
3 Diversifying risks: Excellent teams may fail for various reasons, so diversified investments are rational.
I believe that CZ's judgment on the next key node for prediction markets is very accurate: the 2026 World Cup. Polymarket's explosion during the US elections has already proven the potential of prediction markets, even more accurate than traditional polls. In the short term, the team with the strongest execution will win; but in the long term, mission-driven teams that can persevere will be the ultimate winners.
03 Stablecoin 2.0: A trinity of yield + liquidity + compliance.
CZ's discourse on stablecoins may be the most insightful part of this AMA; he clearly delineated the development stages of stablecoins.
Stablecoin 1.0: A simple and crude model, deposit dollars in a bank → issue tokens → chain transfer. The problem is that users have no yields; issuers like Tether have annual revenues in the hundreds of millions, with rumored valuations reaching 50 billion, but users get not a penny in interest.
Stablecoin 1.5: Starting to provide users with yields, such as Ethena (USDe) invested by YZ Labs. But the problem is that adoption is limited by exchange access; not all exchanges support it, leading to friction in use.
Stablecoin 2.0: The ideal state is a trinity of yield + liquidity + compliance. A stablecoin that can provide good yields and circulate on most exchanges.
CZ pointed out that the changes in the regulatory environment are variables that many people underestimate. A year ago and now are completely different; the US GENIUS Act is advancing, and regulators in various countries are no longer 'super hostile' towards stablecoins, and the compliance environment has clearly become more open.
My judgment on the stablecoin market aligns with CZ: network effects will ultimately occur, and users will gradually concentrate on the most attractive stablecoins. However, we are still in the early stages, and various models are being tried; the ultimate outcome will be determined by the market.
04 AI+ Crypto: Robots are the 'natives' of the crypto world.
CZ is skeptical about AI trading agents, posing a logical paradox: 'If an AI algorithm can really make big money consistently, why sell it to others? Unless you have no capital, but the reality is that good teams find it too easy to get funding.' More critically, the more people use the same strategy, the worse the results become.
But he is very optimistic about the long-term prospects of the combination of AI and cryptocurrency. CZ pointed out that AI and robots will certainly use cryptocurrency in the future for a simple reason: robots cannot open bank accounts, cannot do KYC, cannot verify themselves, and cannot swipe cards. Traditional finance is designed for humans, not for agents.
This viewpoint is very sharp and aligns with my long-term observations. With the popularization of AI agents, the demand for economic interactions between them will grow exponentially, and cryptocurrency is the only tool that can meet this demand. A blockchain payment network designed specifically for AI will be a huge opportunity.
05 RWA Tokenization: National-level assets are entering the market.
While most people are still discussing the feasibility of RWA projects, CZ is already discussing national asset tokenization with senior officials from multiple countries. He cited the example of US shale oil: shale oil was originally difficult to extract, but it is precisely because of developed capital markets and public financing capabilities that funds were invested in technological research and development.
RWA tokenization can replicate this path. The state tokenizes assets like rare earths and minerals, not to 'sell resources', but to leverage capital with tokens to develop industries.
I believe that the narrative of RWA has already elevated from the project level to the national level. This is not just an issue of financing, but an important innovation to activate the liquidity of national-level assets through financial instruments, with enormous imaginative space.
06 Advice to entrepreneurs: Mission-driven trumps everything.
CZ's investment philosophy is very simple: mission-driven. He is most afraid of two types of entrepreneurs: one is those who just want to make a quick profit and run away ('cash out when hitting 10 million/100 million'); the other is those who switch tracks every three months (indicating they do not truly love anything).
In addition, he particularly emphasized a factor that is often overlooked: physical strength. Entrepreneurship is a long-term, high-pressure, and physically demanding endeavor; without good health, it is difficult to persevere until the end.
As a practitioner, I completely agree with CZ's judgment. The cryptocurrency industry is filled with short-term speculators, but those who can truly weather the cycles are mission-driven teams that continue to build. He mentioned that Nvidia took 40 years to become the most valuable company, and for the first 20-30 years, almost no one thought they would succeed, which is an encouragement for builders in the crypto industry.
BNB Chain delivered a good report card in 2025: trading volume increased by 600% year-on-year, with 2.4 million daily active users. But CZ looks further: 'The global wealth penetration rate of the cryptocurrency industry may still be less than 1%, and the total market value of cryptocurrencies can still increase by several orders of magnitude in the future.'
Facing 2026, my view aligns with CZ: long-termism trumps short-term speculation. It is time to seriously examine the four tracks of prediction markets, stablecoin 2.0, AI+Crypto, and RWA.
What do you think is the most worthwhile track to invest in for 2026? Feel free to share your views in the comments section. Follow Ake to learn more about first-hand information and knowledge in the crypto space, becoming your navigation in the crypto world; learning is your greatest wealth!#巨鲸动向 #加密市场观察 $ETH
