Changpeng Zhao Weighs In on Saving FTX and Ethereum’s Ongoing Issues

• The former Binance CEO anticipates positive crypto developments from the U.S. soon.
• CZ credits Vitalik Buterin with being a technical genius, though not a great PR person.
• Binance Labs has rebranded to YZi Labs, reflecting a shift in investment strategy to now include web tech, such as AI and biotech.

Former Binance head, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has expressed doubt that the collapsed exchange FTX was salvageable, following its collapse, and believes that Ethereum (ETH) is facing a “PR crisis” above all else.

FTX, Unsalvageable

Speaking with Wu Blockchain, CZ discusses all manners of crypto topics, including whether the infamous FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse could have been avoided.

According to the former Binance boss, probably not. As CZ notes, FTX could have “theoretically” covered its liabilities, at the time, based on the dollar value of the assets it held:

“So even though FTX’s assets might cover liabilities based on past prices, users have effectively lost 70–80% of what their holdings could be worth today.”

Though similar to the 2014 Mt. Gox collapse, what may have been a manageable recovery became impossible as the underlying value of assets appreciated significantly in the months following its bankruptcy.

“By the time FTX started to collapse in November 2022, it was too late to save. Perhaps if issues had been identified earlier, something could have been done. But at that point, it was beyond recover,” he said.

Though FTX assets could have covered liabilities in the past, the market’s growth quickly left these ambitions behind.

Troubles at ETH

Ethereum (ETH) had an interesting 2024. Despite undergoing one of its most significant updates ever, and the launch of spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the token, network and the Ethereum Foundation (EF), have all fallen short of community expectations.

But it’s less of an issue with the technology or the token, and more public relations. As CZ says, “I think this is more of a PR crisis, a public relations issue.”

The Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has also faced criticism, and even received advice from Justin Sun, over his handling of the network and the EF.

“He comes from a technical background, so he’s more straightforward and blunt, and he’s young. When he said certain things were under his control or direction, it triggered a lot of backlash,” opined CZ.

The EF is facing a leadership shakeup in hopes of refocusing its sights back on achieving the network’s core aims of greater decentralization, scalability and security among other aims.

CZ suggests that Buterin may not be the best publicist, he is a tech genius, and the industry “should” cut him a little more slack. After all, “entrepreneurship is tough,” says CZ.