Binance Founder CZ Says Crypto Market Remains ‘Tiny’ With Vast Upside Potential 'All Unrealized'

CZ says crypto remains small versus blockchain’s long-term potential, as adoption metrics point to early-stage growth.

• Changpeng Zhao remarked that the crypto market is still ‘tiny’ and that the long-term uses of blockchain in payments and digital infrastructure are largely unrealized.
• Market participants reiterated the early-adoption tale, emphasizing that just 10% of people globally use crypto and that its $3 trillion market valuation is far lower than global stocks' $130 trillion.
• Binance Coin was trading slightly higher, up 1.4% over the past day at $887.34.

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of crypto exchange Binance, said on Saturday that the global crypto market is still small relative to the technology’s long-term potential.

In a post on X, Zhao wrote that while the crypto market is still ‘tiny’, the underlying blockchain technology has ‘unrealized’ potential. With a market cap of $1.22 billion, Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally by trading volume.

Its native token, Binance Coin (BNB), was trading at $887.34, up by 1.4% over the past day. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BNB improved largely from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish’ territory, as chatter around the coin remained at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.

Crypto Twitter Reacts to CZ’s Comments

Several users echoed CZ’s view that adoption remains at an early stage. OpenLedger, a blockchain infrastructure firm, replied that crypto is still transitioning from “financial rails into value-producing infrastructure,” calling the current phase “just the beginning.”

Another commenter, Crypto Spotlight, pointed to adoption metrics, noting that less than 10% of the global population has interacted with crypto to date, suggesting room for broader adoption.

Others framed Zhao’s comment in market-size terms. GameFi Crusher, a crypto research account, compared the crypto market’s roughly $3 trillion capitalization with the global stock market’s estimated $130 trillion, arguing that digital assets remain small relative to traditional financial markets. Zhao did not respond directly to the comments.

CZ Predicted Bitcoin Will Outperform 99% Of AI Crypto Coins

Previously, CZ predicted on X that only a small number of AI tokens would succeed in the long term. CZ pointed out that even if 5% of crypto experts were to emerge, most would be unable to defeat Bitcoin (BTC). 

According to CZ, just 4% of the 5% trade or allocate funds to blockchain initiatives, and they do not outperform buy-and-hold Bitcoin. Long-term Bitcoin investors, in comparison, outperform 99% of all crypto market participants and most traditional asset classes without breaking a sweat, he claimed.

Zhao founded Binance in 2017 and stepped down as chief executive in 2023. While no longer leading the exchange, he remains active on social media and continues to comment publicly on crypto-related topics.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<