CZ talks about making friends in prison in new interview

Former Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao shared information about life in prison and the future of crypto in his first public interview since his release.

At the Binance Blockchain Week held in Dubai on October 31, Zhao reflected on the four months he spent behind bars and stated that what he missed most was communication with people. He claimed to have befriended several inmates, describing most of them as “super nice guys” and some who were there for the wrong reasons.

However, he was able to find a solution to this situation by making friends with the prisoners he met during his time in prison. He described some of them as “super nice guys” and said a significant number were there for the wrong reasons.

“There are very good people in prison. I never had any problems with any prisoners. Some of the guards were a little rough with us, but I didn’t have any problems with any of the guards either. “So from that perspective, I was very lucky that there was no physical harm.”

Zhao to Austin Arnold of Altcoin Daily.

While many had sentences lasting years, CZ’s own sentence was only a few months. Because he was the first person imprisoned for violating the Banking Secrecy Act, he had no criteria for determining whether his sentence was “fair.”

But he noted that other financial institutions, such as TD Bank, also pleaded guilty to violating the Banking Secrecy Act but were fined only $1.8 billion.

“There were executives who were paid to facilitate transactions and no one was named, just the company was fined $1.8 billion. But you know, whether it’s fair or not doesn’t matter that much,” CZ said.

Zhao confirmed that he is stepping down as CEO of Binance and is barred from making decisions or participating in day-to-day operations. However, it reserves its rights as a significant shareholder.

“The first month was a little difficult. It was emotional, it was hard to leave a company to which I had devoted my heart and soul for seven years. But I always thought that the CEO should not stay in office for more than 10 years because the world has changed.”

Former Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao

As of now, CZ has stated that he is not interested in leading any projects or any companies. Instead, he wants to use his time to learn about new developments in the industry, such as artificial intelligence, and mentor young entrepreneurs who want to start something new.

“I can help them with funding, advice, coaching, mentoring, access to other resources and connections if they want it,” CZ said.

Apart from this, he said that he will continue to invest in projects especially related to blockchain, artificial intelligence and biotechnology. He also wants to focus on growing his education startup Giggle Academy.

When asked what the outlook for crypto will be in the next few years, CZ said he is still “very, very bullish” on crypto’s long-term outlook, but that the short-term is harder to predict.

Looking at current conditions and the annual cycles the crypto industry has experienced over the past 12 years, he sees 2024 as a “year of recovery.” As for 2025, he remains quite optimistic about the outlook for crypto.

“It’s really hard to predict a year. But I think the future is likely to follow history. Then we would be in a pretty good place,” CZ said.