Hey, today I came across Zhao Changpeng (CZ) again doing something interesting—after being released from prison, during an interview at the Dubai Blockchain Week or somewhere, he jokingly said, 'I am the poorest among my fellow inmates; others have more money in their accounts than I do.' Sensationalist headlines directly wrote 'CZ has become poor again.'
My first reaction was: Hahaha, here we go again? My second reaction was: This guy is so broke that I almost want to crowdfund for him (just kidding).
To be honest, I personally find this matter quite interesting. It's not real poverty, but rather a combination of 'forced low-key Versailles + self-deprecation'.
At his peak, he had a fortune of 96 billion dollars, a level comparable to the richest Chinese. Binance dominated the scene. In 2023, he pleaded guilty and was fined 4.3 billion dollars (paid by Binance), received a personal fine of 50 million dollars, served 4 months in prison, and was directly kicked out of the CEO position after being released, only able to lie back as a major shareholder and earn dividends. Although the BNB price rebounded a bit in 2025-2026, it is still far from the 2021 peak, and Binance's market value has also shrunk significantly (double whammy of regulation + competition).
He is indeed 'relatively poor' now - from the richest to an 'ordinary billionaire', the liquidity can't be compared to his peak, and his lifestyle has to be restrained (whether his Dubai mansion is selling is unknown, but at least he can no longer casually gamble on projects like before). So when he says 'poor', it's not for sympathy; he genuinely feels the gap.
But to be this poor and still say 'I'm the poorest among my prison mates', that's just incredible.
- A self-deprecating remark completely disarms the aggression; who would dare to criticize someone who self-deprecates about being poor?
- Closing the distance with the community - retail investors love to hear big shots say 'I'm struggling too', instantly feeling he's down-to-earth.
- Shifting the focus - when everyone discusses whether he is poor or not, no one digs into the details of the fines, Binance's regulatory pressures, or what he is actually doing after getting out of prison.
I personally think he plays this persona really well. When in prison, he said 'prison life is monotonous but makes me reflect on life', and after getting out, he says 'I'm poor but free'. Essentially, he’s an old hand, knowing how to 'lie flat' in public opinion - be low-key, don’t get targeted again, and slowly wait for the storm to pass.
For us small investors, this sounds a bit sour, but it’s also quite satisfying: even someone of Zhao Changpeng's caliber is 'poor', the crypto world has indeed been tough these years. Regulatory iron fist, institutional internal competition, bull market far away... He is poor, we are poorer, but at least he is still there self-deprecating, we can still have a laugh.
A little thought of mine: CZ saying 'becoming poor again' is likely self-deprecation + character building, not that he's really poor to the point of selling his house (he sold his Shanghai house to gamble on bitcoin back in the day, that was real poverty). Now he is a 'billionaire forced into retirement', whether he's poor depends on who you compare him to - compared to his peak, he is poor, compared to us... haha, still at the ceiling level.
