Freedom of Book, Not Freedom from Beef: CZ’s Prison Memoir Sparks OKX Founder’s ‘Habitual Liar’ Roast

Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ, has traded prison jumpsuits for paperback glory—dropping a 457-page tell-all titled “Freedom of Money” on April 8th like it’s a limited-edition NFT drop. Naturally, the crypto Twittersphere lit up faster than a memecoin pump, especially when his former CTO boss Star Xu of OKX responded not with applause, but with receipts and receipts.

The memoir reads like a crypto origin story with extra drama: from coder in the trenches to emperor of exchange thrones, CZ traces his path from OKCoin (now OKX) to building Binance into a blue-chip behemoth. But plot twist—apparently the real villain wasn’t regulation or FUD, but the guy who once signed his paychecks.

In a chapter that could’ve been titled “The CTO Who Shall Not Be Trusted,” CZ dusts off decade-old allegations, claiming Xu once weaponized FUD against him and calling his leadership so shaky it made a TerraUSD stablecoin look solid. And just when you thought it couldn’t get spicier, CZ name-dropped Huobi’s Leon Li, alleging Li told him Xu ratted to Chinese regulators—information that allegedly played a role in Li’s legal saga. Because nothing says “industry camaraderie” like third-degree hearsay in a memoir.

Xu, clearly not here to be the book’s comic relief, clapped back with the energy of a degen who just saw his short squeeze: “After four months in prison, he continues to make false statements to the world. A habitual liar never changes their nature.” Mic drop. Legal team panic. Case closed? Not even close.

The OKX founder didn’t stop at words—he resurrected a 10-year-old YouTube video accusing CZ of contract forgery, because in crypto, beef isn’t dead; it’s just marinating. Nothing says “I remember exactly what you did in 2014” like pulling up archival footage like a courtroom drama on Netflix.

For those just tuning in: CZ was CTO at OKCoin from mid-2014 until he ghosted in 2015, allegedly over a 10% equity dispute and a sketchy Bitcoin.com domain deal. The two never really did a post-mortem, and instead chose to let their grudge compound—like a high-APY vault with zero withdrawals.

BNB was trading at $600.45 at press time, down 1.11% over 24 hours—but don’t blame the price action on the drama. That’s just the market doing its usual impression of a nervous degen staring at a red chart. The real volatility is in the memoir section of Amazon.