CZ: Crypto vs Traditional Finance Is a False Divide — 'It's Just a New Technology for Finance'

Speaking on The Wolf of All Streets Podcast, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) revealed that he shared his memoir Freedom of Money with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and obtained a quote from him, praising Fink as an example of someone who publicly changed his mind on Bitcoin and pushed it hard afterwards. CZ said he views the framing of crypto versus traditional finance as a false dichotomy — crypto is simply a new technology for finance, and convergence between the two is inevitable, with tokenization of real-world assets as a key driver. On access, CZ argued that any person anywhere in the world should be able to buy any listed stock, calling current restrictions an anomaly that blockchain can help resolve. CZ said the "72 principles" attributed to him online were counted by a Chinese KOL on X, not by him; he removed numbered headings intentionally. He said the principles blog began after a meeting with Ray Dalio in 2021 or 2022, during which Dalio encouraged him to write down his decision-making principles, and it is included as an appendix in Freedom of Money.