CZ on Hitting Rock Bottom: "Just Keep Walking — But Make Sure You're Heading in the Right Direction"

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, has given one of his most candid interviews to date, touching on his future plans, the long road that led to building Binance, and the personal philosophy that carried him through some of the most difficult moments of his life and career.The wide-ranging discussion took place as part of a promotional event for his Binance Square book Freedom of Money, with 10 signed copies available through an ongoing giveaway campaign.17 Years in the MakingWhen asked how someone who starts with nothing builds the confidence to keep going, CZ traced his journey back decades — long before Binance, and long before crypto.He described getting his first exposure to entrepreneurship as a young developer working for startup founders, before moving through a series of small companies. A stint at Bloomberg, where he experienced corporate life at scale for the first time, quickly confirmed that large structured organizations were not the right environment for his personality. He said he simply could not picture himself in a conventional career for twenty years.What followed was a long period of trial, failure, and gradual progression. CZ was candid about the multiple startups that did not work out, and the self-doubt that came with them. Rather than viewing those failures as dead ends, he described them as part of a deliberate approach to managing risk — taking small investments rather than loans, so that when things did not work out, the financial damage remained limited. He noted that despite this, he personally repaid all investors from his failed ventures, making everyone whole.His path into crypto came after steadily building both technical and business development skills, including a period as a junior partner at Fusion Systems Shanghai. When the ICO wave arrived in 2017, CZ and his growing team were positioned to move — and what began as a goal to raise between $10 and $15 million grew into something far larger as Binance scaled by staying focused on protecting its users.CZ was clear that there was no single formula behind his success. By the time he founded Binance, he had spent 17 years working and building — deliberately distancing himself from the narrative of the overnight genius or college dropout founder, acknowledging that while those stories make headlines, they represent a very small minority. For CZ, the journey was organic, shaped over multiple decades by persistence, adaptability, and a willingness to keep going despite uncertainty.His core message to aspiring founders was straightforward — find what fits your personality, pursue what genuinely interests you, and focus on delivering real value to others.Keep Walking — But Know Your DirectionThe discussion took a more personal turn when early Binance angel investor Angel Woomi referenced one of the standout passages from Freedom of Money — that when life hits rock bottom, the answer is simply to keep walking.While acknowledging the power of that message, she pushed further, asking what happens when someone is working as hard as they possibly can but still cannot seem to break through. And how did CZ himself manage to choose the right direction at so many of Binance's critical crossroads?CZ said the principle was something he learned long before Binance existed. He recalled a period early in his career when he was freelancing as a consultant on a month-to-month contract, with no certainty that the next renewal would come. That financial pressure, just a few years out of college, was where the lesson first took root. In his experience, waiting a few days during a difficult moment usually reveals that things are either not as bad as they initially seemed, or that the situation shifts on its own.He pointed to the stress surrounding the Binance platform launch and his court sentencing in 2024 as more recent examples of moments where the same mindset carried him through.But CZ was careful to address the harder part of the question — direction. Persistence alone means nothing if the effort is pointed the wrong way, he said. In most situations, he argued, people can sense whether what they are doing is working. When it is not, the answer is to pivot rather than push harder in the same direction.He identified overspending as one of the most common traps keeping people stuck, drawing on his upbringing and his parents' longstanding emphasis on saving regardless of income level. He was direct in saying that for most people, some degree of saving is achievable — and that cutting back on non-essential expenses, however small the amounts, can restore a meaningful sense of control over one's financial life.Beyond finances, CZ stressed the value of daily self-improvement. Whether someone is working in construction, waiting tables, or washing dishes — work he said he has done himself — he believes there is always time that can be carved out to learn, read, or develop in some way. Consistent small progress, he argued, compounds over time and is itself a genuine source of happiness.He drew a clear contrast between habits that deliver short-term satisfaction and the slower, less immediate rewards of genuine self-development. Those who neglect the latter, he suggested, risk remaining stuck regardless of how hard they work elsewhere. CZ closed this segment by acknowledging that his outlook is an optimistic one — but maintained that optimism itself is a meaningful advantage, one that tends to produce real improvement simply by orienting a person toward possibility rather than limitation.