Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s estimated net worth jumped by about $9.8 billion in 24 hours to $91.2 billion, as the valuation of his stake in the cryptocurrency exchange continued to drive his fortune higher.
The latest estimate, recorded on September 20, 2026, represents a gain of roughly 12 per cent in a single day, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaire tracker.
Zhao’s fortune has also increased substantially this year. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts his year-to-date gain at about $41.5 billion, representing an increase of approximately 83.6 per cent.
At 49, Zhao remains one of the most prominent figures in the global cryptocurrency industry. He founded Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, which offers trading markets across hundreds of digital assets.
The size of Zhao’s fortune is largely linked to his ownership of Binance rather than conventional income or cash holdings.
Forbes estimates that Zhao owns roughly 90 per cent of Binance, based on his public statements and available ownership information.
Because Binance is privately held, its valuation cannot be determined in the same way as that of a publicly traded company. Wealth estimates therefore rely on financial and market assumptions about the exchange.
Bloomberg estimates that Binance generated approximately $5.4 billion in transaction-fee revenue.
The calculation begins with Binance’s trading activity across spot and derivatives markets and estimates the fees generated from those transactions. An estimated ratio between transaction-fee revenue and total revenue at comparable publicly traded companies is then applied.
Using that methodology, Bloomberg estimates Binance’s total revenue at about $10.7 billion.
The exchange is then valued using enterprise-value-to-sales multiples from comparable publicly traded companies, including Coinbase Global, Riot Platforms, Gemini Space Station, Circle Internet Group and Cboe
