Author: Wen Shijun
Editor: Sun Chunfang
In May 2025, Paris, France, in broad daylight, a violent assault on the street:
On the narrow sidewalk of Paris's 11th district, a woman lying on the ground continuously screams for help, her husband tightly holding her and shielding her from the attackers with his body, covered in blood. Three masked attackers are trying to drag the woman into a white van with a delivery company logo.
This is in the center of Paris, the most densely populated area on the right bank of the Seine River, with some pedestrians already on the street at 8 am. People stopped to watch and quickly noticed something was wrong. Several people tried to help, with one brave person grabbing a red fire extinguisher and rushing directly at the attackers. Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, the three criminals quickly let go and scattered, jumping into the van and fleeing the scene.
This was an attempted kidnapping that occurred on the streets of Paris last Tuesday. The woman the criminals tried to kidnap is the daughter of Pierre Noize, co-founder and CEO of the French crypto exchange Paymium, who is currently five months pregnant.
The astronomical wealth created by cryptocurrency, combined with its inherently anonymous and hard-to-trace characteristics, makes it perfect for "ransom", turning crypto industry executives and their families into "mobile ATMs" in the eyes of criminals.
Similar cases have occurred multiple times in various countries globally. Just earlier this month, the father of a crypto executive was kidnapped in Paris's 14th district and was rescued by French police two days later - but lost a finger.
CZ, who was once the global Chinese richest person and currently remains Canada's richest person, can't help but feel empathetic. The day after the incident, this crypto mogul with a net worth of $30.2 billion (217.7 billion yuan) reshared the news on social media with a brief comment:
"Stay safe out there".
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach, maintaining the original tone and details while translating to English.]CZ recalled that his roommate was sentenced to 30 years for killing two people and had already served 12 years. "Because the prison groups by race, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans are in one group, so I lived with this Native American roommate for a few weeks, and we got along well. But experiencing these things was not fun and very scary, and I was afraid at the time."
CZ's description was like a scene from an American federal prison: the cell block had three levels, with two rows of cells facing each other, and a 240-prisoner activity area in the middle. "As soon as you walk in, you see many tattooed muscular men with tattoos on their faces and heads, shouting at each other, looking very fierce."
CZ vividly remembered his first moment in prison: "The guard told me my cell was on the first floor, A5. When I walked over to open the door, I found it was locked. A muscular man came and told me the door needed to be opened by a guard."
CZ was not "bullied" in prison. He said: "These prisoners may look fierce, but they are actually very polite and friendly. After getting to know them, you'll find that everyone has a gentle side. I got along well with inmates and guards."
"You can make friends anywhere, and there are good people everywhere. Some people did make mistakes, but the punishment was too severe and excessive." He even made friends in prison: "I still keep in touch with some people who are still serving their sentences."
Lessons from Prison: Health First, Then Family
In fact, in prison, CZ was most worried about whether he would be freed as scheduled after his four-month sentence:
"I was always worried they would find an excuse to keep me for a few more months or add more charges. Many prisoners have experienced this." CZ later understood this was a psychological issue arising from the high-pressure prison environment: "If they had told me clearly 'only four months' at the beginning, I would have thought 'okay, I can get through this'. But inside, too many things were uncertain, which was very anxiety-inducing."
The four months behind bars also influenced CZ's values: "I realized what is truly important - health first, then family, and only then work and other things."
CZ said: "In prison, you won't miss good food or a comfortable bed, but you will definitely miss your family. You won't miss money or work, although resigning as Binance CEO did make me sad."
In November 2023, as part of a plea agreement, Richard Teng, with a Singapore regulatory background, replaced CZ as Binance CEO. Singapore has a relatively open attitude towards crypto and was once a "safe haven" for crypto businesses.
CZ was the biggest beneficiary of the crypto wave. In 2014, he sold his Shanghai house and heavily invested in Bitcoin. In 2017, CZ founded Binance and became CEO, and four years later became the richest ethnic Chinese globally.
CZ usually resided in the UAE. In October 2021, he purchased a 1,077.68 square meter apartment with six bedrooms in Dubai for $13.5 million. In November 2023, CZ "voluntarily" went to the US for anti-money laundering investigations but was prohibited from leaving until the end of September after his sentence, when he finally returned to his home in the UAE.
In this May interview, CZ said he usually works from home, specifically from bed: "If I sit for too long, my back hurts, so I have a computer stand for use in bed."
Currently, CZ's social media profile shows him wearing traditional Arabic clothing: a pure white robe with a black rope holding a white headscarf - covering his distinctive heart-shaped hairline.
