Binance founder releases memoir, prompting instant memecoin launch
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the co-founder of the largest crypto exchange, Binance, released his memoir in which he offers his side of the story of events that had led to his arrest and prison time. It hasn’t taken long before opportunists jumped in with memecoin tied to the book already circulating in the market.
The book, titled Freedom of Money, is structured in six stories, and is also described as "part memoir and part manifesto." It details Zhao’s life from living in a poor home in China to emigrating to Canada and building Binance.
He also tells his side of the FTX story, as the now-collapsed crypto giant was asking for Binance's help, while also addressing legal challenges and a multibillion-dollar fine in the US, despite no accusations of fraud or money laundering being made. CZ was accused of a single charge of Binance violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which involved not completing required paperwork.
Most of the book is said to have been written in prison in the US, where CZ spent four months after pleading guilty. He was released in August 2024.
In the Q&A section of the book's website, it argues that if this book "were PR, he'd keep the money. He also doesn't shy away from the uncomfortable parts" and "Good PR doesn't include any of that."
"CZ grew up in a home with a dirt floor in rural China. He immigrated to Canada as a teenager, studied computer science, and built his career in traditional finance before crypto. His perspective is that of an outsider who built something global — not a Silicon Valley story," the section answers a question whether this is just "another crypto "bro" book."
Meanwhile, other crypto bros haven't been sleeping, and the Freedom of Money memecoin, launched on Binance's BNB blockchain and by someone explicitly dedicated to the book, has already been trading at least since early March. Its market capitalization is around $19 million, while the 24-hour trading volume is $10 million. The price of the token dropped 6% in a day, trimming its monthly gains to 386%.
As for writing another book, CZ posted recently on X that, for the time being, there are no plans to write more books.
"Takes so much time to write a book," he concluded.
Freedom of Money is available in English and traditional Chinese and can be purchased on Amazon, while all proceeds from the sales should go to unspecified charitable causes. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, 49-year-old CZ's net worth is valued at around $32 billion, ranking him 66th in the index.
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