CZ New Interview: Still Dedicates 80% of Energy to Blockchain, Financial Freedom at $10 Million

Compiled & Translated by: Odaily TechFlow

Guest: CZ, Founder of Binance

Host: Ran Neuner, CNBC Crypto Trader

Podcast Source: Crypto Banter & Crypto Insider

Original Title: CZ Life Before and After Prison, Crypto’s Future & The Freedom Of Money

Broadcast Date: May 9, 2026

Key Takeaways

In this exclusive interview, Ran Neuner engages in an in-depth conversation with Binance founder CZ, discussing his new book "Freedom of Money" (Chinese title: "Binance Life"), his prison experience, the pardon process, family relationships, and the future of the crypto industry. CZ recalls writing the book in a US prison, dealing with uncertainty, and restructuring his life priorities. He also explains why he still dedicates 80% to 90% of his time and energy to blockchain. In his view, the AI Agent era will spawn a financial transaction network far larger than today's, and blockchain is likely to become its irreplaceable settlement rail. Towards the end of the interview, CZ also shares his thoughts on wealth, children, investment, health, and legacy: Money is not the end; the truly important thing is to use one's ability and resources to improve the world.

Highlights and Key Quotes

About the 76-Day Prison Experience and Mindset Reshaping

• "I started writing in prison. I had a lot of time, but not much access to the outside world. I had no internet, just a very basic terminal for 15 minutes at a time, after which I'd be kicked offline. The terminal couldn't copy-paste, so I had to type everything myself."
• "Newspapers called me the richest person to ever enter a US prison, and the only one incarcerated for a single violation of the Bank Secrecy Act. So before I went in, my lawyer told me: 'You are a prime target for extortion.'"
• "No one in US history has gone to prison for a single violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, not even today. I am the only one, the first, and the only one. So I'm special, and they treated me specially. I didn't know what other 'special treatment' might be coming."
• "After getting out, I wrote in the book that I actually don't care about reputation, or even much about legacy. I don't care how others see me. What I care about is how I see myself when I am old."
• "Very clearly, it's people. I missed my family, children, loved ones, and friends. When everything is taken away, you figure out what you miss the most."

About the Pardon, Citizenship, and US Crypto Regulatory Business Competition

• "There was absolutely no deal made to get the pardon. My lawyer was very clear: you don't want to get into more trouble just to get a pardon."
• "We did face very strong lobbying, counter-lobbying, and reverse lobbying. Some of our perceived competitors in the US didn't want me to get a pardon. Other American crypto exchanges didn't want me pardoned, because they feared Binance would come back to the US. That's business competition."
• "It wasn't related to the negotiations. I was invited to become a UAE citizen... However, I didn't use the UAE citizenship as a tool to 'just hide here.' After receiving it, it actually motivated me more to go to the US and resolve the issues, rather than rely on it."
• "When you were convicted, one of the terms was that you could no longer operate Binance. After the pardon, for me personally, that restriction is gone, so I have no limitations. For the company, there might or might not still be some restrictions."

Business Reflection: CZ's Biggest Business Mistake in Hindsight

• "If I could go back now, I would have built two platforms from the very beginning: one Binance US and one Binance Global, and blocked US users from day one. That would have saved a lot of trouble."
• "US users never exceeded 30% of the user base at any point; at different stages it was around 10%, 20%, 30%... We were profitable within 3 months, and very profitable. So even with 30% less, we probably would have survived."
• "But I learned later that the US looks back many years. They look at what you did years ago."
• "I'm much more cautious in business now, but I won't send all my tweets to lawyers for review... On the business side, I involve more lawyers now. That's something I've learned. Law is my weakness; I don't have a legal background."

Crypto x AI: Why the Crypto Rail is Severely Underestimated

• "Blockchain is about money, it's the technology of money. We will always need money, and we will need more, more efficient, and freer money."
• "I still devote 80% to 90% of my time, money, and energy to blockchain. AI and biotech are great, but they aren't my expertise."
• "Based on what I see today, Bitcoin still has the dominant position and the endurance to continue its dominance. There's nothing yet that can replace Bitcoin."
• "It's not just AI transacting with AI; it's an AI representing one person, trading with another AI representing another person on the other side of the world. I don't see an alternative. That money must be Crypto."
• "It will definitely far surpass $2 trillion, and it will far surpass our current monetary system. The future monetary system will be much larger than today's."

Wealth, Trust Arrangements, and the Hard Numbers for 'Financial Freedom'

• "I won't give my children a lot of money. For example, for those who are already adults, I told them I can support them if they want to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. But if you want luxury—sports cars, private jets, yachts, big houses—you have to earn it yourself."
• "I won't leave them billions of dollars. I might leave them tens of millions of dollars in assets, arranged through a trust where they receive a fixed amount each year when they're young, less when they are younger, and more when they get older."
• "I want to spend most of my money while I'm still alive. I don't quite believe in the 'donate to charity at the end of your life' approach. I think it's a terrible way to use money because you can't really control it anymore."
• "For almost everyone on Earth, $90 million is enough... But I think for a normal life, $10 million is enough for financial freedom. When I say $100 million, I mean that beyond that number, it really doesn't make a difference. If you have $100 million and say you're not happy, thinking $200 million will make you happier, that's crazy. It won't work."
• "Beyond $50 million, the difference is zero. If you are obsessed with finding happiness through money, you will be unhappy."
• "When I'm old and sick in bed, I hope to look back and say: I did my best to contribute to the world I came into. I want to leave this world a little better than I found it."

YZi Labs' Screening Logic & Elon Musk's 'Alien Theory'

• "I don't look at shiny things, flashy 'great brands,' or 'genius new ideas.' I look at very basic things."
• "I look for people who truly believe in their mission, who would do it even without money. If you just want to make money, I think you'll stop somewhere relatively successful, but you won't become a historically great company. So it's two things: ability and mission."
• "I think Elon doesn't care about money. My theory is that he's an alien, he wants to go back to his home planet, and Mars is just a transit station. That's my theory, half-jokingly and half-seriously."

Freedom of Money: CZ's New Book Launch

Host Ran Neuner: When did you start writing your new book, 'The Freedom of Money'?

CZ:

I started writing it in prison. I had a lot of time, but not much access to the outside world. I had no internet, just a very basic terminal for 15 minutes at a time, after which I'd be kicked offline. The terminal couldn't copy-paste, so I had to type everything myself. I also couldn't delete easily; if I deleted something, I had to retype it. So basically, I just dumped whatever was in my head straight out and emailed it to my assistant and a friend.

After getting out of prison, it took about another year and a half to fully complete. It took me maybe 6 months to write it, but then there were many rounds of editing. Each editing round was a 400-page document and took 2 to 3 weeks.

Host Ran Neuner: What goes through a person's mind before writing a book? Why would you write one? You went to prison, you're probably scared, stressed, anxious. Why is your first instinct to write a book? What were you thinking?

CZ:

There are a few reasons. First, I wanted to keep myself busy in prison. Writing a book is a good project; it doesn't require anything else, just staying in your head and writing things down. So I was always trying to queue up for the computer.

More importantly, some people say writing a book is actually writing to yourself. You have a dialogue with yourself, you review your life, you think about what's important, what's meaningful, what's not, what's interesting, and then you write it down.

After getting out, I also felt it was a natural turning point in my life, a place to turn the page. I originally wanted to publish it right after getting out, but it took longer. Then for the next few months, I was applying for a pardon, not knowing when it would come. When the pardon actually came, I was pretty surprised, and I thought it would be a good full stop for the book.

Host Ran Neuner: Tell me about the mechanics of writing a book in prison. You said you could use a computer sometimes. People on the outside don't really know what it's like; we only see it in movies. Did you write with pen and paper? Was there only one computer? Could it connect to the internet? How did it actually work?

CZ:

In our unit of 200 inmates, there were 4 terminals. You had to queue up to use the computer. Once you got on, you only had 15 minutes. The computers had no internet. You could only use a messaging app to send messages to pre-approved contacts, up to 30 people. I had only two contacts: my assistant and my friend.

So, each time I got on, I had 15 minutes. After the session ended, I had to wait several hours before I could use it again and re-queue. I could use it maybe 3 to 4 times a day. I also had paper and pen, but I just used the paper to jot down key points for my next writing session. Then when I got on the computer, I would write as fast as possible. This writing process lasted for a few months.

Host Ran Neuner: You were there for 4 months. Was the job of writing the book just to keep yourself busy? Was it like a countdown from day 1, day 2, day 3, while keeping your mind engaged?

CZ:

Pretty much. But strictly speaking, I spent 76 days in prison. After that, I went to a halfway house, where I could go out to the office but was still restricted and couldn't go wherever I wanted. I was there for about 3 to 4 weeks. Then, for the last 14 days of my sentence, I was re-incarcerated. That's in the book. I couldn't write during those final 14 days because I had no access to anything.

Host Ran Neuner: What was the scariest part of prison? Was it the moment you walked in, or some time during your stay?

CZ:

Before going in, you don't really know what will happen. Newspapers called me the richest person to ever enter a US prison, and the only one incarcerated for a single violation of the Bank Secrecy Act. So before I went in, my lawyer told me: "You are a prime target for extortion." The problem was how to protect myself from extortion? I didn't know what form it would take. What if someone puts a knife or a metal bar to your neck? How do you avoid that? So I did a lot of preparation, which caused a lot of mental anxiety. The book doesn't cover that part much.

But the intake process itself was also a bit scary. You walk into a unit, and 200 strong men are all looking at you. But in the end, I found that most inmates are actually reasonable. Some people are criminals, some shouldn't be there, and some have been there too long.

After that, the worry was: will they keep me there forever? Will they find other charges? Will they find other reasons? Especially after I got to the halfway house. I was supposed to be transferred to home confinement for the last 9 days. But on the 13th day from the end, the police came, handcuffed me, and sent me back to a detention center. The detention center was worse than prison, because it was temporary and had nothing. At that point, I was thinking, are they going to add new charges? The mental stress was immense.

Even on the day I was supposed to leave, I was very nervous. Even on the plane, I didn't relax. I waited until the plane flew out of US airspace.

Host Ran Neuner: It sounds like you have a lot of PTSD or distrust of the system. I think that distrust probably stems from the fact that you originally didn't think you would go to prison. The whole process sounds like the rules could change at any moment, like the game has no fixed rules.

CZ:

Absolutely correct. Any lawyer can tell you that no one in US history has gone to prison for a single violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, not even today. I am the only one, the first, and the only one. So I'm special, and they treated me specially. I didn't know what other 'special treatment' might be coming.

Five days before my sentencing, Senator Elizabeth Warren declared war on crypto. That was during the Biden administration, and