Anthony Pompliano, a podcaster and the founder of Bitcoin treasury company ProCap BTC LLC, has published an extract from a recent interview with the former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
That extract contains an unexpected fact that Pompliano called “insane.”
Stunning fact about CZ from his past year in prison
CZ revealed that when he was put into a federal prison in May 2024, all prisoners were sorted based on their ethnicity. Therefore, Asians were put together with Pacific Islanders and Native Americans. The intent seemed to be to prevent fights in prison.
Changpeng Zhao said that his very first cell mate was a double murderer, meaning he killed two people at once. He was serving a 30-year sentence. However, for good behavior, his time was shortened.
CZ said that during his first night in the cell, that guy was snoring loudly, and CZ considered kicking him to stop it but then changed his mind, thinking that treating a double murderer in that way might not prove safe for him.
Pompliano stressed this fact in his X post, saying that it is “insane” being “one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our lifetime – and next thing you know your cellmate is a double murderer.”
Imagine being @cz_binance … you are one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our lifetime and next thing you know your cellmate is a double murderer.
Insane. pic.twitter.com/6Ht10BcH0U
— Anthony Pompliano 🌪 (@APompliano) July 9, 2025
CZ spent four months in prison last year, from the end of May until the end of October, on charges of violating U.S. security and anti-money laundering laws. Binance also paid several billion dollars in fines for it and made CZ step down as CEO for life. Richard Teng, who now runs Binance, was chosen to take his place at the helm of the Binance exchange.
