Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has announced that his highly anticipated memoir will be released in late February or early March. CZ promises to reveal details he didn't Chia in his recent interview at the Davos Forum.
"There's nothing to hide. More details will be in the upcoming book," CZ wrote on X on January 25th, confirming the release date is in four to six weeks.
Self-publish in two languages
This 300-page memoir, containing approximately 97,000 words, will be self-published simultaneously in English and Chinese. CZ explained that he chose not to partner with traditional publishers because he was concerned that the publication process would take too long.
"Working through traditional publishers takes a lot of time, even though they can provide much better promotional support," he Chia .
All profits from the book will go to charity. CZ added, "The goal is not to make money from this book."
Chinese headlines prompt community to warn about memecoin.
In a post on January 8th, CZ stated that he was considering naming the Chinese version “币安人生” (roughly meaning “Binance Life” or “Living with Binance”), while the English name was still undecided and would likely be completely different.
CZ also noticed the trend of retail investors creating meme Token using trending words, so he proactively addressed this issue.
“I wanted to be transparent with everyone from the start so there wouldn’t be any ‘leaks’… This book has nothing to do with any meme Token or Token listings. But I really like meme culture – it’s fun, it’s memorable to me,” he Chia .
He asserted that he does not own any “币安人生” meme coins and has no intention of buying any, and CZ also reserves the right to change the book's title at the last minute.
From 114,000 words to the final edited version.
CZ began writing his memoir at least in March 2025, when he first updated that the manuscript had reached 114,000 words. At that time, CZ stated that the process took much longer than anticipated and required three times the effort to rewrite everything.
At this stage, he also revealed that the book would address controversial events in the industry. One topic includes questions about the connection between FTX and the Terra/LUNA crash in May 2022.
“I’ve been thinking a lot while writing this… I don’t want to speculate too much; there are rumors, but I’ve never seen any concrete evidence,” he wrote in March 2025.
After numerous revisions, the final version was shortened to approximately 97,000 words across 300 pages.
Details about the prison have been provided.
When a Watcher asked if the memoir mentioned his time in prison, CZ confirmed: "Yes, I told the whole story."
Zhao pleaded guilty in late 2023 to violating US anti-money laundering regulations and stepped down as CEO of Binance. He served four months at the Lompoc I Federal Correctional Facility and was released in September 2024. By October 2025, he received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
Since his release, CZ has largely remained silent on Binance's operations. Instead, he has focused on philanthropy, educational projects, and now his memoir – which promises to offer a realistic and insightful look at his journey before, during, and after building the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
