For CZ, Without Freedom Of Expression, Financial Freedom Is An Illusion

Freedom. Here is a word that Humanity has raised to the rank of totem for centuries. Freedom to think, to act, to trade. But in the age of digital platforms, its definition wavers. For Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, it is impossible to talk about financial freedom without freedom of expression. It is this conviction that led him to inject 500 million dollars into X, the former Twitter, in the name of a freer Web3… at least in appearance.

CZ: a crusade for freedom… with variable geometry

On stage at the Token2049 conference in Dubai, CZ did not mince his words:

To have the freedom of money, you must have freedom of expression. Without it, no other freedom works.

This credo he invokes to justify his massive investment in X. Officially, it is not a stock market play, but an activist act.

The project seems almost messianic. In his eyes, Twitter—renamed X—would be the last possible bastion of a free digital space, provided it is modernized. Binance promised as early as 2022 to help X integrate Web3, fight bots, and deploy crypto payments. In other words, offering Musk a crypto-compatible toolbox.

But in reality? The platform continues to be overrun by fake accounts, serial scams, and unwanted spam. CZ complains publicly—he even pleaded with Musk to ban the bots—but his dream of digital freedom seems for now trapped in the nets of attention-driven capitalism.

An ideological commitment, or disguised lobbying?

The former CEO of Binance does not hide his annoyance with European bureaucracy. “Europe’s crypto policies died in the cradle” he said bluntly. According to him, the region prefers regulation over innovation. In contrast, he holds up the United Arab Emirates as a model, where business and innovation apparently go hand in hand.

His criticisms fit into a well-oiled strategy. Portray the West as timid, control the narrative by positioning oneself as a defender of freedom, and push states to adopt more favorable positions for the crypto industry. Nothing new. Except that this time, CZ no longer has the same status: in 2024, he pleaded guilty to money laundering before serving a four-month prison sentence.

Since then, he presents himself as a strategic advisor, notably for the Pakistan Crypto Council, and an educator via his platform “Giggle Academy“.

But can we believe that a former centralized exchange magnate suddenly became a philosopher of freedom of expression overnight? His declaration: “We believe in strong entrepreneurs, strong platforms, freedom of expression…” sounds more like an investor pitch than a disinterested commitment.

Web3 is good… as long as you control the narrative

The paradox remains intact. CZ criticizes censorship but wants to ban bots. He advocates decentralization but remains an influential shareholder of a centralized platform. He defends transparency, yet his judicial past tarnishes his credibility. And he dreams of an educational Web3, without ever saying what happens to the personal data of children trained via Giggle Academy.

This hybrid stance, between ethics and pragmatism, reflects the crypto zeitgeist: ideals recycled into marketing strategy. Certainly, CZ is not alone. Musk also instrumentalizes freedom of expression according to shifting interests. But linking “monetary freedom” and “freedom of speech” as two interchangeable absolutes is debatable.

In fact, X has not revolutionized its model. Web3 integration remains embryonic. Payments in bitcoin and other cryptos are still not there. And Binance’s promises—like setting up a team dedicated to fighting on-chain scams—are struggling to become concrete.

Europe dithers while others build. Its habit of regulating everything prevents it from truly innovating. It frames while others experiment. And while CZ dreams of a liberated Internet, X, the platform he supports, must face a very real enemy: a bot invasion. A problem so acute that CZ publicly called on Elon Musk to finally put an end to it.