Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) believes a $1 million Bitcoin is not a distant dream. Speaking on stage at Bitcoin Asia 2026 in Hong Kong, he said the milestone will arrive well before the 25-year horizon most people use, and he told a room full of Bitcoin loyalists that other blockchains make Bitcoin bigger, not smaller.
“It will happen”
The session was titled “The Bitcoin Century.” Asked what would need to happen over the next 25 years for that label to fit, CZ started with price.
“For Bitcoin to hit a million dollars would be a good thing, and it will happen,” he said.
Asked whether that would take the full 25 years, he said no. “I actually don’t think we need 25 years. I think it’s going to happen much quicker.”
From around $83,000 this week, a move to $1 million would mean Bitcoin’s price rising about 12 times.
Price is not enough
CZ said price alone will not make it the Bitcoin century. He listed what else needs to happen:
Payments at scale: Bitcoin used for payments “on a massive scale.”
Retirement reserves: Bitcoin held as a reserve asset by pension funds.
More utility: broader real-world use beyond holding and trading.
“All of those things will happen,” he said.
A message for Bitcoin maximalists
Asked why he would not simply tell investors to hold only Bitcoin, CZ said he had to “take the Bitcoin side,” then made the opposite case.
“If the industry only had Bitcoin, the industry would grow much slower,” he said. “I think Bitcoin would be smaller if we didn’t have other blockchains.”
He named Ethereum and BNB Chain as networks that help the whole industry grow. “This is not a zero-sum game,” he said.
He still called Bitcoin the largest and most decentralised network, and said it will remain “the reserve currency for a very long time to come.” Other chains, he argued, are where new ideas get tested, and Bitcoin can adopt the ones that work.
He added that even the conference’s organiser, David Bailey, whom he called a good friend and a “Bitcoin maxi,” understands this.
“Crypto is not a very good name”
CZ also said the industry’s label puts people off. Ordinary people hear “crypto” and think it is “too scary” and too driven by mathematics. In the early days, he noted, the whole sector was simply called the Bitcoin industry.
Bitcoin and governments
Asked whether Bitcoin weakens governments or strengthens those that adopt it early, CZ said neither. “Bitcoin itself doesn’t weaken or strengthen governments. It’s what governments do,” he said, adding that governments seeking “total control” have not always served their economies or citizens well.