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Is Binance’s CZ Really Richer than Bill Gates?

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CZ's 'Poor Again' Tweet Backfires as Nebraskangooner Slams Binance


Changpeng Zhao ranked above Bill Gates on the 2026 Forbes billionaires list, but he says the figures are wrong.

Forbes’ newly announced 2026 Billionaires list shows that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is now richer than tech mogul Bill Gates.

CZ came in 17th place in the magazine’s annual ranking of the richest people in the world, while Gates is placed not far from him at 19th.

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CZ Outranks Gates in Forbes Billionaire List

Released annually, the Forbes Billionaires List provides a real-time snapshot of the wealth of the most prolific entrepreneurs, investors, heirs, and celebrities worldwide. According to Forbes’s website, as of March 11, 2026, the former Binance executive has a net worth of $111.1B, while Gates’ is listed as $105.7B.

The data also suggests that CZ’s wealth has been growing steadily over the past three years, thanks to his Binance-linked crypto holdings. But, on the other hand, the tech billionaire’s riches have remained relatively stable and are tied to his Microsoft shares and philanthropic commitments.

Zhao has since responded to the piece, outlining on social media that the information shared is inaccurate.

“Didn’t read the Forbes article, but if you just look at the little chart 👇, you know it’s wrong.”

In his X post, CZ questioned how the publication calculated the figures, pointing out that crypto prices had already fallen by more than 50% in 2026, yet his reported net worth had increased.

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Zhao also believes that Forbes’ calculations are “way off.” He gave another example by comparing ByteDance’s $150 billion valuation to its former CEO’s $69 billion net worth. The Forbes official website notes that the 2026 ranking was based on calculations of stock prices and exchange rates as of March 1.

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The publication also explained that it looks at the different assets a billionaire is believed to control to come up with a gauge of their wealth, including stakes in public companies, private businesses, real estate, art collections, and other investments.

Forbes Breaks Down Its Wealth Estimates

In Zhao’s case, most of his assumed wealth is believed to originate from his ownership stake in Binance. Forbes’ data shows that he still owns roughly 90% of the exchange. This represents a huge share of his fortune if the company’s valuation is taken into account.

On top of that, he is also believed to hold a large amount of BNB tokens linked to the Binance ecosystem. CZ has shared in the past that his crypto portfolio contains about 98.5% in BNB and only 1.3% in BTC. Despite this, the exact amounts remain undisclosed.

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Gates’ wealth, on the other hand, was calculated very differently. The outlet said that most of his fortune has historically been tied to his stake in Microsoft. Forbes, however, revealed that his ownership in the firm has dropped to less than 1% after years of donations and asset diversification.

The tech mogul has given more than $59 billion to the trust that funds the Gates Foundation over the past couple of years. According to Forbes, this has reduced his overall net worth, and as a result, his placement on their list has also dropped.

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Crypto World

Foundry to Launch Institutional-Grade Zcash Mining Pool in April 2026

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Privacy, Bitcoin Mining, United States, Zcash

Digital asset infrastructure company Foundry Digital plans to launch a mining pool for Zcash in April 2026, expanding beyond Bitcoin mining infrastructure. The company said the pool will be designed for institutional and publicly traded miners seeking compliance-focused mining services.

The new pool will be based in the United States and built on the same infrastructure used by Foundry USA Pool, which is operated by the company. Foundry said the service will include reporting tools and payout systems intended to meet the operational requirements of institutional miners.

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency which features an encrypted ledger using zero-knowledge proofs. A mining pool is a service that allows multiple miners to combine computing power and share block rewards, increasing the chances of earning consistent payouts.

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A spokesperson for Foundry told Cointelegraph that the company decided to build a the new mining pool because “Zcash addresses something we believe is genuinely important: the idea that financial privacy is foundational to economic freedom, and that privacy and compliance can coexist.” They added: 

When institutional and public miners can mine Zcash through infrastructure built to their standards, it brings new hashrate to the network and strengthens its security.

Foundry Digital was founded in 2019 and provides mining infrastructure and related services for digital asset companies. Its Foundry USA Pool is one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools by hashrate share. Foundry said it expects the Zcash pool to begin operations in April 2026.

The announcement comes days after developers who previously worked at Electric Coin Company raised more than $25 million to continue developing a privacy-focused wallet for Zcash. 

Related: Dash Evolution chain integrates Zcash Orchard privacy pool

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Zcash garners attention amid price volatility

Zcash, launched in 2016, allows users to send transactions without publicly revealing details such as wallet addresses or transaction amounts. The network is based on Bitcoin’s codebase but uses zero-knowledge proofs, known as zk-SNARKs, to enable optional “shielded” transactions alongside standard transparent ones.

In 2025, Zcash became one of the most widely discussed privacy-focused assets in crypto, with comments from industry figures, including Arthur Hayes, Naval Ravikant and Mert Mumtaz, helping drive interest in the network and its native token, ZEC (ZEC).

The rally pushed Zcash up nearly 600% over the past year, climbing from below $35 in March 2025 to as high as $698.87 on Nov. 16, 2025, according to CoinGecko data. The token has since pulled back, falling 58.7% year-to-date from about $512 on Jan. 1 to roughly $212 at the time of writing.

Privacy, Bitcoin Mining, United States, Zcash
Zcash price over one year. Source: CoinGecko

Even with the renewed attention, the network’s mining activity remains concentrated among a small number of pools.

Data from Poolbay shows ViaBTC controlling about 31.7% of total hashrate, followed by F2Pool at roughly 15.8%, with smaller shares distributed across pools such as 2Miners and Antpool.

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