Changpeng Zhao’s “Freedom of Money” describes the FTX collapse from inside Binance and reveals he once offered Gary Gensler a job.

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance and one of the wealthiest figures in crypto, published his 457-page memoir Freedom of Money on Wednesday, offering the most detailed first-person account yet of the events surrounding the collapse of FTX and his own fall from the helm of the world’s largest exchange.

The book’s most striking passage describes a phone call with Sam Bankman-Fried as FTX was unraveling in November 2022. According to Zhao, SBF requested billions of dollars in emergency funding with the ease of someone asking for a bologna sandwich. The call preceded Binance’s brief and ultimately abandoned attempt to acquire FTX. Zhao also blamed Caroline Ellison, then CEO of Alameda Research, for accelerating the collapse. When Ellison publicly offered to buy Binance’s FTT holdings at $22 each, professional traders immediately shorted through that level. The token fell to $15, then $10, then $5. Within 72 hours, $6 billion had exited FTX.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

The memoir also reveals that Zhao was introduced to Gary Gensler in 2018 and offered him a role as a Binance adviser, which Gensler declined. The two met for sushi at the Okura hotel in Tokyo in March 2019. Gensler later led an SEC enforcement campaign against the crypto industry that included a lawsuit accusing Zhao and Binance of securities violations. That case was ultimately withdrawn after President Trump took office.

Zhao wrote most of the manuscript during his four-month sentence at a federal prison facility, part of a plea deal that also included a $4.3 billion fine for Binance and a $150 million personal penalty. He stepped down as CEO as part of the agreement. All proceeds from Freedom of Money go to charity.