Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) released his 457-page memoir “Freedom of Money” on April 8. The book immediately sparked a public war of words with OKX founder Star Xu.
The autobiography tells about CZ’s journey from the countryside in China to building the largest crypto exchange in the world. However, the most exciting parts are about other Chinese crypto figures, such as Huobi founder Li Lin and Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun.
The origin of a years-long rivalry
CZ joined OKCoin, the precursor to the OKX exchange, as Chief Technology Officer in mid-2014. His time there lasted less than a year.
According to his memoirs, CZ left in early 2015 after Star Xu tried to renegotiate his 10% equity stake in the company.
The departure was not smooth. Shortly thereafter, a fierce contractual dispute arose over the management of the Bitcoin.com domain name.
CZ had arranged a deal between OKCoin and early Bitcoin (BTC) investor Roger Ver. Ver entrusted the management of the domain name to the exchange in exchange for monthly payments.
There were two versions of the contract. Ver and CZ stated that OKCoin had created a forged version with a six-month notice period. Xu accused CZ of this forgery.
This dispute in 2015 led Ver to sue OKCoin for $570,000. CZ also publicly accused OKCoin of inflating trading volumes with bots and influencing a proof-of-reserves audit.
Xu struck back by questioning CZ’s qualifications and accusing him of fraud. The dispute eventually died down, but neither party forgot it.
From old grudges to new accusations
In “Freedom of Money,” CZ revisits the Chinese regulatory wave of 2020 that shook the crypto sector in the country.
He describes that OKCoin announced on October 16, 2020, that it would pause cryptocurrency withdrawals indefinitely. Star Xu was reportedly “softly” detained by the Chinese police at that time. Xu was released after about five weeks.
Two days after Xu’s release, Huobi founder Li Lin and other executives were detained during a public event on November 28, 2020.
Li Lin was held for about 90 days in a similar “soft detention.” Eventually, he left the sector and sold Huobi in October 2022 to Justin Sun's investment vehicle, About Capital Management.
This deal, reportedly worth about $1 billion, later led to a dispute between Sun and Li.
Sun accused Li of concealing a $30 million shortfall during the audit. Li, in turn, initiated a lawsuit over the trademark rights. Meanwhile, Sun has renamed the exchange to HTX.
The most striking accusation in CZ’s book concerns something that would happen years later.
CZ writes that Li Lin told him during a dinner in 2025 that he had seen a screenshot where Star Xu personally indicated him to the Chinese police. According to CZ, that was the reason for Li Lin’s arrest.
“Five years later, during a dinner in 2025, I met Li Lin again after 11 years. Li Lin told me that he had seen a screenshot where Xu Mingxing personally reported him to the Chinese police, and that this report led to his arrest.”
Star Xu strikes back
Xu responded by calling the click accusation “absurd,” and said that CZ’s character does not change after four months in prison. CZ was imprisoned in a US federal prison after pleading guilty to money laundering in 2023. He personally paid a fine of $150 million and Binance paid $4.3 billion.
“After four months in prison, he continues to make false statements to the world. The only thing I can say: a liar never changes their nature,” he declared.
Xu did not stop at a denial. He revisited the OKCoin contract dispute and shared a YouTube video and QQ chats from December 2014.
According to him, this still proves that CZ sent two versions of the Ver contract to an OKCoin accountant. Version 7 arrived first. Then, several hours later, version 8 followed with the additional termination clause.
In addition to the contractual dispute, Xu mentioned other issues that he claimed were incorrect. Such as:
CZ’s own story about his time at OKCoin,
the conflict with Roger Ver,
or CZ itself manipulated the market, and even
CZ’s marital status.
Xu also suggested that CZ acted as a “tainted witness” and reported Justin Sun during a separate investigation.
CZ has not directly responded to Xu’s messages.
What this dispute reveals about Chinese crypto founders
These accusations show how personal rivalries between the early founders of Chinese crypto exchanges still influence public narratives.
CZ, Star Xu, Li Lin, and Justin Sun built four of the most influential platforms in the sector. They all managed to survive during Beijing's crackdown, the detentions of founders, and the forced relocation of their businesses abroad between 2017 and 2022.
Li Lin quietly departed after selling Huobi.
Justin Sun became the controversial owner of the successor, HTX, while he is being sued in the US by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for alleged securities fraud.
CZ has served his sentence and now presents himself as a thought leader through educational initiatives.
Xu still leads OKX, which remains one of the largest global exchanges by volume.
None of the major claims in this dispute have been independently verified. The screenshot that CZ attributes to Li Lin has not been made public.
The evidence of the 2014 contract remains disputed even after more than ten years.
It is clear that “Freedom of Money” adds a new chapter to old wounds that China’s crypto elite would prefer to keep closed.