The essence of the book Freedom of Money by Changpeng Zhao (CZ)
This book will be released on April 8, 2026, and is 'part memoir, part manifesto'. It contains CZ's life story + his views on money and crypto. Here are the main points:
1. Life journey: from poverty to building Binance
CZ tells the story of his childhood in a rural village in China, a dirt-floor house without running water. His family immigrated to Canada when he was a teenager. In 2017, he built Binance with some friends. Within 6 months, it became the largest exchange in the world. Now serving 300 million users with a valuation of $100 billion by 2026.
2. Main theme: 'Protecting Users, Resilience'
The full title is Freedom of Money: A Memoir of Protecting Users, Resilience, and the Founding of Binance. CZ emphasizes 3 principles that allowed Binance to outpace competitors:
- User protection: The number one priority is the security of customer funds
- Resilience: Surviving through extreme volatility, industry scandals, and geopolitical pressure
- Transparency & innovation: Recruit top talent, an intense work culture, and relentless innovation in a market thought to be saturated.
3. CZ's perspective on 'Financial Freedom'
CZ believes that financial freedom is one of the most powerful ideas of our time. According to him, crypto plays a vital role in providing financial access to billions of people in developing countries who do not have banks. He is most satisfied not because Binance is number 1, but because he receives messages from users around the world saying that Binance provides them 'financial access or even financial freedom'.
4. The dark side: legal cases and imprisonment
This book is not a 'sanitized corporate story'. CZ openly discusses:
- DOJ Settlement 2023: Binance paid a fine of $4.3 billion for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act - failure to comply with AML, not fraud. CZ personally paid $150 million and served 4 months in U.S. federal prison. No customer funds were lost.
- The collapse of FTX: CZ details a call with Sam Bankman-Fried who asked for a multi-billion dollar bailout 'like asking for a sandwich'. Also discusses the role of Caroline Ellison that caused FTT to crash.
- Gary Gensler: CZ once offered Gensler to become an advisor for Binance in 2018, but it was declined.
5. Lessons & reflections
This book is CZ's reflection on money, technology, and responsibility. He discusses 'successes, mistakes, and lessons' from building a company in an industry where the rules are yet to be written. 100% of the book's royalties are donated to charity.
One-sentence conclusion: This book tells CZ's story from zero to crypto king, lessons learned in building a startup in a wild industry, honest admissions about legal cases, and a manifesto on why he believes crypto equals financial freedom for everyone.