February 10 2026
(from NotebookLM)
Early Life and Immigration
- CZ’s father was a professor in China who went to Canada as a visiting scholar in 1984; the family began applying for passports around 1985, a process that took several years.
- The family emigrated to Vancouver, Canada, in 1989, shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests; obtaining visas actually became easier post-protest.
- Upon arriving in Vancouver, the family lived on the UBC campus in faculty housing; CZ’s father received a small stipend, and his mother, formerly a math and history teacher, worked in a sewing factory.
- CZ began working at McDonald’s at age 14 to earn income, where he was paid $4.50 an hour.
- He describes himself as a decent coder but not a "wizard"; he had a happy adolescence with a mix of Asian and Caucasian friends.
Education and Early Career
- CZ attended McGill University to study biology (on advice to become a doctor) but switched to Computer Science after one semester.
- He worked every summer and held part-time jobs to avoid student debt; he did not graduate from McGill, opting to take an internship in Tokyo during his third year.
- He later obtained a degree from an online program (American College of Computer Science) to satisfy visa requirements for work in Japan.
- His internship was with a company called Fusion Systems in Tokyo, writing order execution software for the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
- He moved to New York in November 2001 (shortly after 9/11) to work for Bloomberg.
- At Bloomberg, he worked for four years, was promoted three times, and eventually managed a team of 80 people before realizing he did not want to remain in management.
Return to China and Discovery of Bitcoin
- In 2005, CZ moved to Shanghai with five partners to start an IT consulting company aimed at bringing Wall Street technology to China.
- They discovered they could not service Chinese financial institutions directly due to regulatory restrictions on foreign-owned entities, so they pivoted to general IT consulting (servicing clients like GM and Volkswagen).
- CZ first heard about Bitcoin in July 2013 during a poker game with a friend, Ron Cao, and Bobby Lee (brother of Litecoin creator Charlie Lee),.
- He was captivated by the Bitcoin white paper and Bobby Lee’s advice to put 10% of his net worth into it.
- In 2014, convinced Bitcoin was the future, CZ sold his apartment in Shanghai for ~$900,000 to go "all in" on Bitcoin, buying at an average price of $600 despite the price dropping shortly after.
Pre-Binance Crypto Career
- CZ joined Blockchain.info as the third employee (Head of Development) in London but left after roughly eight months due to cultural differences.
- He then joined OKCoin as CTO in Beijing but left after less than a year due to disagreements over ethics and operational practices (e.g., how fee discounts were applied).
- In 2015, he started a company called Bijie Tech, providing "Exchange-as-a-Service" software to other exchanges; they serviced 30+ clients and were profitable,.
- In March 2017, the Chinese government cracked down on the exchanges Bijie was servicing, causing them to lose all clients and necessitating a pivot.
Founding Binance
- CZ and his team decided to launch their own crypto-to-crypto exchange in June 2017.
- They conducted an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for Binance Coin (BNB), raising ~$15 million in roughly two weeks.
- On September 4, 2017, China banned crypto exchanges and ICOs; the Binance team immediately relocated to Tokyo.
- Binance grew rapidly because the platform was significantly faster than competitors and offered lower fees via the BNB token,.
- Within six months (by early 2018), Binance was the largest exchange in the world, and CZ appeared on the cover of Forbes.
Relationship with FTX
- CZ met Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in January 2019 at a conference; Binance eventually invested in FTX, taking a 20% equity stake,.
- Binance exited the investment in July 2021, a year and a half before FTX’s collapse, due to SBF reportedly badmouthing Binance in Washington and competitive friction.
- CZ denies rumors that his exit caused FTX’s downfall or that he knew about their financial holes, stating he never even asked for their financial statements.
Legal Challenges and Plea Deal
- Regulatory pressure ramped up in 2023, with the DOJ threatening to indict CZ and Binance.
- Negotiations were intense; at one point, the government requested a 36-month prison sentence (double the guidelines).
- CZ agreed to a plea deal involving a personal guilty plea for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (failure to register and implement effective AML programs).
- Two "enhancement" charges (alleging intentional facilitation of money laundering) were dropped or not pursued due to lack of evidence.
- CZ voluntarily stepped down as CEO of Binance as part of the resolution.
- He was sentenced to 4 months in prison on April 30, 2024.
Prison Experience
- CZ served his time in a low-security federal prison (not a minimum-security "camp" because he is not a US citizen).
- He described the environment as strict but physically safe; inmates segregated by race/ethnicity to minimize conflict.
- The food consisted mostly of starches and carbs with very little protein or fruit; he did not see fresh fruit for months.
- He used the time to workout, draft his book, and think; he was released on September 27, 2024.
- Regarding a pardon, he notes he is not familiar with a specific process but believes the aggressive nature of the prosecution might make a pardon possible under a pro-crypto administration.
Current Life and Future Plans
- Giggle Academy: CZ is currently building a free, gamified education platform for the underprivileged (approx. 1.2 billion people without access to basic education).
- He is self-funding the project and explicitly states there will be no token involved to prevent speculation.
- Investments: He is active in investing in blockchain, AI, and biotech outside of Binance.
- AI & Crypto: He believes AI agents will become the primary users of crypto for payments because traditional banking cannot handle the volume or speed required by agents.
- Book: He is writing a memoir (approx. 95,000 words currently) to tell his side of the story, which he drafted while in prison.
- Wealth Perspective: CZ states that money has diminishing returns for happiness; he values health, time, and freedom more than accumulating more wealth.
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