Changpeng Zhao Freedom of Money: A Memoir of Protecting Users, Resilience, and the Founding of Binance

This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.

In Freedom of Money, part memoir and part manifesto, Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, tells the remarkable story of his life – from his early childhood in rural China, living in a home with a dirt floor and no running water, to immigrating to Canada as a teenager, to building Binance from a tiny operation founded with a few friends in 2017 into a 300-million user platform that became the largest crypto exchange in the world, with a $100 billion valuation as of 2026. Taking readers behind the scenes of crypto’s explosive rise, the book chronicles the high-stakes risks CZ navigated as the industry faced volatility, scandal, and mounting geopolitical pressures.


CZ offers a first-hand look at the pivotal decisions and guiding principles that propelled Binance beyond competitors. He also shares his insights about attracting top talent, inspiring intense dedication, and driving relentless innovation – emphasizing the importance of transparency and prioritizing clients’ interests in a market many believed was already saturated with exchanges. Illuminating the inner workings of Binance and the cryptocurrency industry, he also shares his views on the vital role crypto can play in expanding global financial access, particularly for the legions of those in developing countries with no access to traditional banking services.


Addressing controversies head-on – including the implosion of FTX and its co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and the increasing politicization of regulatory scrutiny of the industry – CZ provides an unflinching account of his own pursuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and other U.S. federal regulators. He was accused in early 2023 of a single charge of Binance violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which involved not completing required paperwork, in its early days, for allowing U.S. persons on its platform, and whether one of Binance’s compliance programs was subjectively effective enough under U.S. law.