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The New York Times has obtained a nearly 300-page draft of Changping Zhao’s unpublished memoir, which reveals secret negotiations with the US Department of Justice, life in prison, and his rivalry with Sam Bankman-Fried.
The New York Times turned the story into a critical investigation, but Zhao and the cryptocurrency community quickly dismissed it as the best free publicity for the book this year.
Inside the manuscript
The New York Times reported on February 27 that it had obtained a draft of Chow’s upcoming memoir, “Money Freedom.” The manuscript details secret negotiations with the United States Department of Justice, a four-month prison sentence, and a rivalry with Sam Bankman-Fried.
The New York Times explained that the plaintiffs initially demanded $6.8 billion from Binance. The platform responded with an offer of $500 million. In the end, a $4.3 billion settlement was agreed upon. Chow pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Anti-Laundering Act.
The memos also describe Chow’s previously unreported meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his release. ICE served a detention warrant on him, claiming he overstayed his visa while in custody. His lawyers intervened, but he spent his last two weeks under police surveillance.
On the day of his release in September 2024, Zhao left the detention center and boarded a private plane. Only 26 minutes passed between leaving detention and departure, according to the manuscript.
The book also includes Chao’s interactions with former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Zhao wrote that he was once offered an advisory role at Binance, but Gensler turned it down. They then met for sushi in Tokyo in 2019.
Of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Chow claimed that Sam asked for billions of dollars during the crisis of 2022. Chow wrote that Sam made the request “as if he had ordered a bologna sandwich.”
President Trump pardoned Zhao last fall, beINCrypto reported. The draft memo contains passages defending Trump’s handling of classified documents. Chow wrote that he would give a reward to an employee who took the files to read in the bathroom.
Note the absence of details about Zhao’s clemency campaign and Binance’s business ties to the Trump family’s crypto project.
CZ’s answer: “Free advertising.”
Zhao responded via the X platform within hours of the New York Times report. He offered the coverage as free, unpaid advertising for his book.
“The New York Times is already promoting my next book, for free,” Zhao wrote about X. He added that the newspaper had obtained “a very rough draft, without permission.”
His lawyer, Teresa Judy Guillén, said the New York Times “is based on material that is neither in Zhao’s book nor in his own words.”
The manuscript also contains a paragraph defending Trump in case he is prosecuted for his secret documents. CZ wrote that he had to give a reward to an employee who took the company’s files to read in the bathroom. When a user mentioned this line on the X platform, CZ responded, saying, “Makes sense, right?”
CZ stated that the book’s English title is still subject to change. The Chinese version has a provisional name of 《司安人生》. He noted that publication can be delayed, explaining that each round of editing takes two to three weeks.
The road to publication
CZ revealed that the memoir has been in preparation since at least March 2025, when he showed a draft of 114,000 words. The manuscript has since been reduced to about 97,000 words spread over 300 pages.
CZ chose to self-publish simultaneously in English and Chinese. He explained that relying on a traditional publisher would take a long time. All proceeds will be donated to charity.
CZ suggested during the writing process that the book would explore whether FTX had anything to do with the Earth/Moon collapse of May 2022. Ultimately, he refused to confirm this, saying he “didn’t see any solid evidence.”
The prevailing reaction on the X platform took up the New York Times magazine as free advertising for the book. Many users found the same description of CZ.
Chinese language users have been debating how to translate “money freedom” – whether it means financial freedom or monetary liberation. Some of them pointed out their similarity Li Xiaolai’s book “The Road to Financial Freedom.” Li is a prominent figure in the world of Chinese cryptography and a well-known author.
The momentum around memes also led to the emergence of a meme. A token called “Freedom Money” has risen to a market value of $8.3 million. Detection of chained parsers EyeOnChain About three wallets that have accumulated tokens before the New York Times report. They turned an investment of $8,600 into unrealized earnings of $781,000.
CZ has already addressed this possibility. In a January 8th post on the Chinese title 《司安人生》, he explicitly stated that he does not own any meme currency associated with him. “This has nothing to do with memes or posts,” he wrote at the time.
CZ’s memoir is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
