Changpeng Zhao (CZ) missed one of crypto’s biggest markets. The Binance founder now admits he misjudged the stablecoin market for years.

He told the Talking Tokens Podcast that he wrote them off. Today those tokens are worth more than $311 billion.

CZ Says He Missed the Stablecoin Boom

Zhao spoke on the Talking Tokens podcast. He looked back at the calls he got wrong. Leaving Binance gave CZ time to study the market again.

Stablecoins are crypto tokens tied to the US dollar. Each one aims to stay worth about a dollar. Traders use them to move money fast, day or night.

He is blunt about what he got wrong.

“when I was running Binance, I actually kind of missed stablecoins. I didn’t think stablecoins will get that big, but they actually have.”

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A Temporary Patch Job That Became a Giant

Changpeng Zhao saw stablecoins as a quick workaround. He thought they only moved money between exchanges. He was wrong.

“I thought that was a temporary patch job technology just to bridge some transactions between crypto exchanges, but then got big…”

Stablecoins were tiny when Binance launched in 2017. Now the market tops $311 billion. Tether (USDT) leads with about $184 billion.

That is nearly 60% of the sector. It makes Tether the third-biggest crypto, behind only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Circle’s USDC ranks second, with about $77 billion.

That is a huge market to miss.

The technology he doubted is now US law. The US passed the GENIUS Act in July 2025. It set the first national rules for stablecoins.

Weeks earlier, Circle listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares jumped more than 160% on day one.

Why CZ Now Watches the Stablecoin Market He Missed

Changpeng Zhao does not want to miss the next big thing. He says leaving the CEO job gave him room to learn. Now he studies new areas he once ignored.

“when I’m forced to step back, I kind of look at the industry more as a whole.”

He blames how busy he was at Binance.

“as the CEO of Binance, when I was running it, I was so busy that I couldn’t even learn new things in crypto that well.”

The lesson stuck. Zhao says early doubts can cost a lot. Stablecoins are his proof.

Source: BeInCrypto