INSIDE THE BINANCE BLACK BOX

Trading exchange Binance is by far the most powerful entity in crypto, but the private company's inner financial workings have remained murky. A Fortune investigation shines a light on vast profits, hefty payouts to social media influencers, and a huge hoard of crypto coins that could become its Achilles' heel.

- SHAWN TULLY

WHEN IT COMES to flamboyant evangelists, it's hard to top Carl Runefelt. The Swedish social media star boasts 4 million followers across YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. He's passionate about the "good life," his 1,001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron, his yacht in Monte Carlo, and his $1 million watch. He even paid to have his face appear on a Formula 2 race car as a high-speed billboard for his brand.

But his true love-even after FTX, even after Bitcoin cratered by two-thirds-is crypto. Over the years, Runefelt, who goes by the Twitter handle The MoonCarl, has posted a steady stream of QR codes, imploring followers to sign up as his affiliate members and dip their toes into trading on his favorite exchange, Binance. Hey, if this onetime grocery clerk can win a king's ransom betting on crypto, why can't you?

Most casual observers think of Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, as a trading-tech titan, a data-driven juggernaut run by the ubiquitous Changpeng Zhao, or CZ for short. But an army of Runefeltswho gain kickbacks with every newbie they sign up-have powered a surprising share of Binance's explosive growth.

This influencer network is largely invisible to those who aren't Binance power-users. That's in contrast to CZ himself, who in recent years has become crypto's most visible spokesman. Zhao has logged countless appearances on cable business networks, released myriad statements touting the health of his business, and appeared at live events worldwide, professing that users' crypto is secure in their Binance accounts.