CZ’s Memoir Set for Late February, Promises Full Prison Disclosure

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced his long-awaited memoir will hit shelves in late February or early March. He promised to reveal details he couldn’t share during his recent interview at the Davos Forum.

“There is nothing to hide. More details in the upcoming book,” CZ wrote on X on January 25, confirming the release window of four to six weeks.

Self-Published in Two Languages

The 300-page memoir, spanning approximately 97,000 words, will be self-published simultaneously in English and Chinese. CZ explained that the decision to bypass traditional publishers was driven by timing concerns.

“Takes too long to go through a publisher, even though they will likely help significantly with distribution,” he noted.

All proceeds from the book will go to charity. “Not trying to make money from the book,” CZ added.

Chinese Title Sparks Memecoin Disclaimer

In a January 8 post, CZ revealed he is considering naming the Chinese version “币安人生” (roughly translating to “Binance Life” or “A Life with Binance”), while the English title remains undecided and will likely be completely different.

Notably aware of the memecoin ecosystem’s tendency to tokenize trending phrases, CZ preemptively addressed the issue.

“Full disclosure, and just to get this out there publicly so that it’s impossible to ‘leak’… This is not related to any meme tokens or listings. But I embrace the meme culture. I like that meme/word. It’s sticky, for me,” he wrote.

He explicitly stated he does not hold any “币安人生” memecoin and has no intention to do so, while reserving the right to change the title at the last minute.

From 114,000 Words to Final Edit

CZ’s memoir has been in the works since at least March 2025, when he first revealed he had written a 114,000-word draft. At the time, he noted the project had taken “way longer” than expected and would require “another 3x effort” to rewrite.

During that period, CZ also hinted the book would explore controversial industry events. One topic is the possible connection between FTX and the Terra/LUNA collapse in May 2022.

“I was thinking about this when writing this section of the book… I didn’t want to speculate; there were rumors, but I never saw hard evidence,” he wrote in March 2025.

The final version appears to have been condensed to 97,000 words across 300 pages after months of editing.

Prison Details Included

When asked by a follower whether the memoir includes details about his time in prison, CZ confirmed: “Yes, it’s all in there.”

Zhao pleaded guilty in late 2023 to violating US anti-money laundering regulations and stepped down as Binance CEO. He served a four-month sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc I, and was released in September 2024. In October 2025, he received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.

Since his release, CZ has largely avoided commenting on Binance’s operations, instead focusing on philanthropy, education initiatives, and, now, his memoir, which promises a comprehensive firsthand account of his journey before, during, and after building the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.