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Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, the former Binance chief executive and its largest stake holder, has made to the cover of the fresh issue of Foresight News – the largest multilingual Web3 media platform in the Asia-Pacific region.
CZ talked about various topics – many were connected to Binance, meme coins, etc, but he also spoke about the four months he spent in prison last year. CZ retweeted the X post about this interview, sharing it on his personal X page.
CZ highlights prison impact on him
Last year, CZ spend four month in a federal prison in the US – from end of May until the end of September. A much bigger sentence was looming for him on charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act and allowing Binance customers to be engaged in money laundering activities. However, his lawyers managed to bring it down just to four months.
CZ told Foresight News about that, stressing that those four months completely “reshaped his life’s priorities.” This time made him realize the importance of family, friends, and health. It wasn’t work that he missed during that time, he confessed, it was his family.
🎯FN 独家丨专访币安创始人赵长鹏：改变人生的四个月
— Foresight News丨BUIDL 2025 🇭🇰 (@Foresight_News) March 26, 2025
很荣幸独家专访到 @cz_binance ，借着这次难得的机会， @GetupAnderson 与 CZ 从阿布扎比投资、亲身参与 Meme 新事物、 币安上币策略调整，再到狱中经历体验等方面进行了深度交流，同时也透露了对未来的一些计划，来看看度过人生至暗 4 个月后的… pic.twitter.com/KHp4tYMGh7
As for health, Zhao admitted that he lost 6 kg during that time and now he feels a lot healthier than he did before. Last year, when CZ came out of prison, he tweeted that he could again feel the joy of eating fresh fruit every day. He hinted that the weight loss came from stress he experienced back then, saying: “Mental stress comes from uncertainty.”
CZ on meme and celebrity coins
One of other topics touched on by CZ was the meme coin ecosystem. He said that meme coins indicate how creative the crypto community is. However, he also pointed out at significant risks related to those asset.
He admitted that while Binance does support innovation, including new meme coins, it seeks to find balance between educating users and warning them about risks. As for meme coins launched by celebrities and by the US president Donald Trump (TRUMP) in particular, CZ believes that such assets are usually launched by third parties to attract attention. The former Binance boss stated that the community should really focus on projects that offer long-term value.