CZ's Autobiography Reveals FTX Collapse Details, Job Offer to Gensler, and OKX Feud

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) released his autobiography Freedom of Money on April 8, covering the creation of the world's largest crypto exchange, his prison sentence, the FTX collapse, and an unexpected encounter with former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. All proceeds from the book will go to charity.

«The book Freedom of Money is live in some countries already. It seems the book will be available to everyone on April 8th at 12:00 AM in their own time zone. If you have trouble falling asleep at midnight today, grab a copy today. All proceeds go to charity.» — CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance), original post

The foreword was written by Binance co-founder Yi He, who has worked alongside Zhao since 2014 and currently serves as co-CEO with Richard Teng. The book's central thesis — reflected in its title — is that cryptocurrencies can dismantle barriers to financial access, particularly in regions with weak banking infrastructure or strict capital controls.

The memoir features numerous previously unseen photos from Zhao's personal archive, ranging from his family's arrival in Vancouver to pictures with Vitalik Buterin and the emergency relocation of Binance's offices from China following the country's crypto ban.

«CZ has revealed many photos for the first time in his newly released autobiography: A photo of CZ with his sister and parents on August 6, 1989, when they first arrived at Vancouver Airport. In 1990, CZ first encountered the x286 computer in Vancouver. In 2014, CZ took…» — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain), original post

CZ's Account of the FTX Collapse

In the memoir, CZ provides a detailed account of the events of November 2022. During a phone call ahead of Binance's potential acquisition of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried casually asked for "a couple billion dollars" — as nonchalantly, Zhao writes, as if he were asking for a bologna sandwich.

Zhao claims he never intended to complete the deal. The letter of intent was merely a formality to assess the situation and protect users. He had no desire to own FTX nor any particular motivation to help Bankman-Fried, but felt compelled to potentially intervene to safeguard users and the broader industry.

According to CZ, the catalyst for FTX's implosion was a public statement by then-Alameda Research head Caroline Ellison. Her offer to buy back Binance's FTT holdings at $22 per token to stabilize the market was, in his view, a fatal mistake. By revealing the minimum support price, Ellison gave professional traders a target — they opened short positions below that level. FTT crashed to $15, then $5. Users withdrew $6 billion from the exchange within 72 hours.

The book also reveals the existence of an "Exchange Collaboration" group chat on Signal, created by FTX employee Zane Tackett during the Terra/LUNA collapse. Besides Zhao and Bankman-Fried, the chat included Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Kraken head Jesse Powell. The chat later attracted the attention of DOJ and SEC investigators looking for evidence of collusion between exchanges — which Zhao says they did not find.

On November 9, Binance walked away from the acquisition. The exchange's own FTT holdings, valued at $580 million at their peak, became worthless. Zhao compared this to losing $1.6 billion on LUNA investments six months earlier. A run on Binance itself followed: on December 14, users withdrew $7 billion in a single day. CZ admitted he felt anxiety, though all user funds were held in reserves. Within a month, customers returned their deposits, actually exceeding previous levels.

Why This Matters

CZ's autobiography represents the first comprehensive insider account of the crypto industry's most turbulent period from 2022 to 2025. The detailed description of FTX's collapse mechanics, inter-exchange communications via Signal, and regulatory scrutiny of those conversations shed light on dynamics that were previously known only in outline. The book also exposes the depth of behind-the-scenes conflicts among industry leaders, including sharp tensions between the founders of Binance, OKX, and Huobi.

Gensler, Prison, and an Unexpected Job Offer

One of the memoir's most striking revelations involves Gary Gensler. In 2019, Zhao met him in Tokyo when Gensler was a former CFTC official and offered him an advisory role at Binance. Gensler declined — he was already positioning himself to lead the SEC.

«On March 29, 2019, in Tokyo, CZ posed for a photo with former CFTC official Gary Gensler. He did not anticipate the future SEC chairman's crackdown on cryptocurrencies.» — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain), original post

The irony is unmistakable: it was under Gensler's leadership that the SEC filed its lawsuit against Binance, and Zhao himself served four months in a U.S. prison.

Public Clash With OKX's Star Xu

The book has also ignited a feud with the founder of OKX. In the memoir, CZ claims that Huobi founder Li Lin told him in 2025 that his arrest resulted from a tip-off by OKX founder Star Xu.

Xu categorically denied the allegation, posting a sharp rebuttal on social media. He called the claim "purely false information" and stated that if reports alone could determine outcomes, the industry would have ceased to exist long ago.

«此事纯属不实信息。在亚洲 Crypto 行业，任何有规模的平台和创始人，每年都会面临大量举报与投诉。如果举报本身就能决定结果，这个行业早就不存在了。» — Star_OKX (@star_okx), original post

Xu went further, calling Zhao a habitual liar whose "true nature will never change." The book also resurfaces a 2015 incident in which the OKX chief publicly accused CZ of forging contract signatures — a claim Zhao denies and says seriously damaged his reputation at the time.

In response, Xu doubled down with another post insisting on the accuracy of his earlier accusations:

«I had no intention of revisiting these old issues involving CZ from when I was younger. But since I've been dragged into this again because of the book, let's restate the facts. During his time at OKCoin, evidence of contract falsification was already made public on the internet…» — Star_OKX (@star_okx), original post

For context, in March 2026 a U.S. court dismissed a lawsuit against Binance and CZ alleging terrorism financing.