Former Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao shared insights on life in prison and the future of crypto in his first public interview since his release.
At Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai on Oct. 31, Zhao reflected on his four months behind bars, noting that what he missed most was human connection. He shared that he made friends with several inmates, describing many as “super nice guys” and suggesting that some were there for the wrong reasons.
Though, he was able to remedy this by making friends with the inmates he met during his time in prison. He described some of them as “super nice guys” and that a decent portion of them were there for the wrong reason.
“In prison there are very nice people. I didn’t have any trouble from any of the inmates. Some of the guards treat us a little bit harshly, but I also didn’t have any issues from any guards. So, from that perspective, I was very lucky that there was no physical harm,”
Zhao to Altcoin Daily’s Austin Arnold.
A lot of them had sentences that spanned years, while CZ’s own sentence was only a few months. He himself did not have a benchmark on whether or not his sentence was “fair” as he was the first person to be jailed for violating the Banking Secrecy Act.
Though he did mention that other financial entities like TD Bank also pleaded guilty for violating the Banking Secrecy Act but only received a fine of $1.8 billion.
“There were executives taking money to facilitate transactions and no one was named just the company was fined 1.8 billion. But you know, fair or not, doesn’t matter that much,” said CZ.
Zhao confirmed he has stepped down from his role as Binance CEO and is barred from making decisions or being involved in daily operations. However, he retains his rights as a significant shareholder.
“The first month was a bit difficult. It was emotional, it was difficult to detach from a company that I pour my heart and soul in for seven years. But I always thought, the CEO should not be on the post for more than 10 years because the world changes.”
Former Binance CEO, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao
As of now, CZ stated that he does not have any interest in leading a project or a company of any kind. Instead, he wants to use his time to learn about new developments in the industry, like artificial intelligence, and providing guidance for young entrepreneurs who want to start something new.
“I can help them with funding, with advice, with coaching, mentoring if they want it with access to other resources, connections,” said CZ.
Aside from that, he said he will continue to invest in projects, more specifically those related to blockchain, AI, and biotech. He also wants to focus on growing his educational initiative, Giggle Academy.
When asked what the outlook for crypto looks like in the next few years, CZ that he is still “very, very bullish” regarding the long-term outlook of crypto, but for the short-term period it is harder to predict.
He considers 2024 to be a “recovery year,” based on the current conditions and looking back on the yearly cycles that the crypto industry has gone through in the past 12 years. As for 2025, he remains quite optimistic about its outlook for crypto.
“One year is really hard to predict. But I think there’s a high chance that, you know, the future follows the history. So then we would be in a pretty good place,” said CZ.