CZ: $500M in Elon's X, 4 Months in Prison & What's Coming Next

Changpeng Zhao, Founder, Binance

Episode 1 of The Starting Block, hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live from Abu Dhabi with Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

For the first episode of The Starting Block, Head of Multimedia at The Block Gareth Jenkinson is joined by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, in Abu Dhabi for a wide-ranging conversation: his $500M bet on Elon Musk's X, the uncertainty of prison and why he's now funding prison reform, the real "secret sauce" behind Binance's rise, the fight over Binance's licence in Europe, which AI tools he actually uses, his honest take on Michael Saylor and Strategy, Hyperliquid vs. Aster, and why he's still extremely bullish on Bitcoin — plus the one thing he wants to be remembered for.

Outline

– Welcome & launching The Starting Block
– The $500M X bet (and never meeting Elon)
– Legacy, philanthropy & life after Binance
– How Binance actually won
– Moving fast, regrets & the U.S. case
– Inside prison
– Prison reform & giving back
– The OKX feud
– Europe, MiCA & why Binance (and Tether) walked
– Binance US, explained
– Which AI CZ actually uses — and the centralization problem
– Michael Saylor & the Strategy question
– Hyperliquid, Aster & prediction markets
– Bitcoin: the outlook & the $1M call

Guest links:
CZ (Changpeng Zhao)
X: https://x.com/cz_binance

Host links:
Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenks
The Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo
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