Binance CEO, With Over $1 Billion to Spend, Weighs Buying a Bank

Binance Holdings Ltd. founder and CEO Zhao “CZ” Changpeng, who last month said the crypto exchange may spend more than $1 billion on deals this year, is considering targets including banks as the boundary between the digital-asset industry and traditional finance blurs.

“There are people who hold certain types of local licenses, traditional banking, payment-service providers, even banks. We’re looking at those things,” Zhao said in an interview at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, without identifying a target. “We want to be the bridge between crypto and the traditional, financial world.”

Changpeng Zhao, billionaire and chief executive officer of Binance, speaks during a session at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. The Web Summit runs from 1-4 November.

Photographer: Zed Jameson/Bloomberg

Zhao’s comments underscore how digital assets ...