Ethereum's 8th Birthday, CZ Shares Photo: Lived in Tokyo Apartment with Vitalik, Known Each Other for Nearly a Decade

The Ethereum genesis block was born on July 30, 2015, making it 8 years old today. Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) also celebrated Ethereum's birthday on Twitter, revealing that Ethereum's founder Vitalik Buterin had stayed at his apartment during a trip to Tokyo in May of that year.

CZ recalled how despite Vitalik's enthusiastic explanation about ETH at the time, he did not invest in ETH. He lamented missing the opportunity but also believed that this fueled his motivation to build Binance in the following years.

Zhao Changpeng: Missed Investing in ETH in 2015

CZ tweeted a photo of himself with Vitalik Buterin, and Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, emphasizing that this was the first time he publicly shared this photo. He stated:

On May 2, 2015, before the birth of ETH, Vitalik stayed at my apartment while traveling in Tokyo. He was constantly researching and discussing ETH at that time, but I still missed out on ETH. Missing it back then meant missing it for a lifetime. However, on second thought, if I had bought ETH at that time, I might not have needed or been motivated to start Binance. Who knows?

CZ also urged everyone to work harder and not miss out on opportunities:

I had multiple roles at that time, and life doesn't give you many chances. There have been many opportunities, work hard, and don't miss the second chance.

On this 8th birthday of #Ethereum, a little throw back to May 2, 2015, in Tokyo🇯🇵, just before #ETH was officially born. @VitalikButerin stayed in my apartment in Tokyo during this trip. He was already working on and talking about ETH non-stop. And I still missed (didn't buy)… pic.twitter.com/84B6KN73Qf

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) July 30, 2023

CZ and Vitalik Have Known Each Other for Nearly a Decade

CZ provided more details in the reply section of the tweet.

When asked if there was any crazy party with so many people gathering together, CZ revealed that Vitalik is quite boring, but he seems to be the same, if not worse.

Furthermore, he anticipated that by December this year, he and Vitalik would have known each other for nearly a decade.

This was May 2014, a year before that.

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) July 30, 2023

Some in the community believe that Vitalik is a practitioner of decentralization, which contradicts CZ's thoughts.

CZ stated:

Centralized exchanges (CEX) and DeFi are not in conflict. Both have their own risks and issues, but in the long run, DeFi will prevail, and Binance has also invested heavily in the DeFi sector.