Ghost Writer

10 high-quality insights distilled from @CZ 's (Changpeng Zhao) recent interview on the All-In Podcast with Chamath Palihapitiya (episode titled "CZ's Untold Story: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Binance's Founder," released around February 10, 2026).
The nearly two-hour conversation covers his personal journey, Binance's founding, legal battles, prison experience, and future outlook. These points highlight his candid reflections and strategic thinking.

1. From China to Canada and a "shockingly normal" early career — CZ described his childhood in China, immigration to Canada at age 12, and early jobs (including at McDonald's). He emphasized how his pre-crypto life was ordinary—working normal jobs and building companies like one in Shanghai—contrasting with the billionaire image people have today.

2. Discovery of Bitcoin as a turning point — CZ went "all-in" on crypto after discovering Bitcoin $BTC , seeing its potential early. He credits timing and personal conviction for Binance's rapid rise, building the exchange in 2017 amid a favorable market window.

3. Founding Binance: Speed and execution over perfection — Binance launched quickly to capture the market opportunity. CZ highlighted how relentless focus on building, rather than over-planning, allowed it to become the world's largest crypto exchange despite intense competition.

4. Relationship with SBF and the FTX collapse — CZ shared insights on his interactions with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), describing the dynamics and how FTX's downfall unfolded. He positioned Binance as a more responsible player, in contrast to FTX's risky practices that led to its implosion.

5. Facing the Biden-era DOJ as anti-crypto pressure — CZ discussed what he saw as politically motivated actions from the U.S. Department of Justice under the previous administration, framing his legal challenges as part of broader regulatory hostility toward crypto.

6. Harsh realities inside federal prison — One of the most striking segments: CZ detailed life in a low-security facility (not minimum due to non-citizen status), where prisons are organized by race/ethnicity for conflict reduction. He described informal hierarchies, group reps resolving disputes, and unexpected welcomes from fellow inmates—painting a structured but shocking system.

7. Prison as a learning experience, not just punishment — CZ reflected on prison teaching him about human nature, hierarchies, and resilience. He noted it shifted his priorities toward education and philanthropy post-release, rather than bitterness.

8. Post-Binance life and new ventures — After stepping away from Binance leadership, CZ focuses on building again—emphasizing education (via Giggle Academy), AI integration in crypto, and supporting new projects. He remains optimistic about crypto's long-term role in global finance.

9. Redemption arc and mindset shift — CZ portrayed his journey as one of rise, fall, and redemption: from building an empire to facing consequences, then emerging with clearer focus on positive impact. He stressed discipline, decision-making, and avoiding hype.

10. Vision for crypto's future — CZ reiterated crypto's potential for financial inclusion and innovation, while warning against short-term speculation. He sees AI + blockchain convergence as transformative, and encouraged builders to prioritize real utility over memes or quick gains.

The interview humanizes without absolving. It’s possible to admire CZ’s execution while acknowledging the compliance failures that triggered consequences. Power in emerging markets often outruns governance; the mature phase demands reconciliation with rules. What I found persuasive was his systems thinking—speed as strategy, governance as design, resilience as learned behavior. What remains open is whether crypto’s leaders can institutionalize those lessons before the next cycle.
#CZ #TrendingTopic

Since the genesis block was mined in January 2009, the identity of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, has remained one of the most enduring mysteries in finance. According to the Bitcoin whitepaper, Nakamoto planned for Bitcoin to exist as a decentralized entity without a leader. However, the vacuum created by the Bitcoin founder’s disappearance since 2011 has opened the door to numerous claims of authorship. 
Several figures have since been rumored to be Bitcoin’s creator, with attention focused on those widely speculated to be within the crypto community. While nearly everyone else denied being involved in Bitcoin’s creation, Craig Wright went as far as engaging in a high-profile litigation that culminated in a March 2024 UK High Court ruling that found “overwhelming evidence” he is not Bitcoin’s creator.
The next section details the various “Bitcoin Creator” allegations and claims since Nakamoto’s disappearance, highlighting each individual’s argument and what the crypto community thinks about them.
Adam Back

Famously known as a British cryptographer and CEO of Blockstream, Adam Back invented Hashcash, a proof-of-work system crucial to Bitcoin mining, in 1997, several years before Bitcoin was created, and even before launching Blockstream. Back did not claim to be the creator of Bitcoin. Instead, it is the public and Bitcoin ecosystem participants who suspect him to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
The suspicion stems from several pieces of circumstantial evidence, including his Hashcash creation years before Bitcoin was founded, being explicitly cited in the 2008 Bitcoin whitepaper by Nakamoto, and his association with the Bitcoin creator—he was the second person Nakamoto reached out to via email before Bitcoin’s official launch.
Back refuted the claims of being Bitcoin’s founder by providing evidence demonstrating he had yet to fully understand Bitcoin’s internal mechanics long after the cryptocurrency’s launch. He shared logs from the Bitcoin-wizards IRC channel from 2013, admitted to being “an idiot” for not buying or mining Bitcoin until 2013, long after its release, and released his email history with Nakamoto, which revealed a professional distance between them.
Dorian Nakamoto
Similar to Adam Back, Dorian Nakamoto has denied being the creator of Bitcoin following a publication by a major media outlet linking him to the cryptocurrency. He opposed the details contained in a controversial investigative report in 2014, categorically denying any involvement with Bitcoin’s creation.
In March 2014, Newsweek ran a cover story by journalist Leah McGrath Goodman titled “The Face Behind Bitcoin.” Goodman cited Nakamoto’s legal birth name, his professional background, his geographical proximity to the first recipient of a Bitcoin transaction, and the political views he held as evidence behind his report.
However, the suspected Bitcoin creator later rebutted the most crucial piece of evidence in the Newsweek report—a quote he allegedly gave while police were present at his home. He said,
“I am no longer involved in that, and I cannot discuss it. It’s been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection.”
According to him, it was a “major misunderstanding” with a misinterpreted context. He exposed his unfamiliarity with cryptocurrency by referring to it as “Bitcom,” and claimed that his financial and health situation does not agree with someone in control of such a significant amount of funds and resources.
Nick Szabo

Nick Szabo is another prominent American cryptographer who has repeatedly denied being Satoshi Nakamoto. Many third-party researchers and public figures have linked Szabo with  Bitcoin creation because he conceptualized Bit Gold, a decentralized digital currency that is widely considered the most direct precursor to Bitcoin, as early as 1998. 
Incidentally, Bit Gold featured technical elements of today’s Bitcoin cryptocurrency, including Proof-of-Work (PoW), decentralized ledger, and Byzantine Fault Tolerance. However, despite the researchers’ findings, Szabo has maintained a firm denial, insisting that those doxing him as Satoshi Nakamoto got it wrong.
Hal Finney

Hal Finney is another American developer who denied being Satoshi Nakamoto until he died in August 2014. According to Finney, the closest he came to the technology was being a supporter and an admirer of the work done by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Those who suspected Finney to be Bitcoin’s creator cited his status as the first person, other than Nakamoto, to download the Bitcoin software in January 2009. He also received the first-ever Bitcoin transaction of 10 BTC directly from the creator.
Other evidence cited by proponents includes Finney’s creation of Reusable Proof-of-Work (RPoW) in 2004, a critical stepping stone that directly influenced Bitcoin’s decentralized design. Finney also lived a few blocks away from Dorian Nakamoto, leading theorists to suggest he may have used his neighbor’s real name as a pseudonym. Meanwhile, Satoshi Nakamoto’s final communication in April 2011 coincided with the progression of Finney’s ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), which eventually left him paralyzed.
Finney categorically denied being Bitcoin’s creator in 2013, describing himself as the “eager apprentice” of Nakamoto’s “master architect.” He further produced extensive email archives of his conversations with Nakamoto, revealing his role as a developer seeking clarification about the novel technology.
Peter Todd

Peter Todd is another of several individuals who have denied being the creator of Bitcoin. Todd described claims associating him with creating the cryptocurrency as “ludicrous” and “grasping at straws”. 
A documentary linking Todd with Bitcoin creation cited evidence from a December 2010 post on the BitcoinTalk forum. According to the documentary’s director, a reply from Todd’s account was a continuation of a thought started by Nakamoto, suggesting that Todd accidentally posted while logged into the wrong account.
The documentary made more allegations, including the use of a John Dillon persona, linguistic and geographical matches, and technical expertise to push the narrative of Todd being the founder of Bitcoin. However, the Canadian software developer rebutted those claims.
According to Todd, the BitcoinTalk forum post was simply a technical correction and not a continuation of Nakamoto’s post. In the meantime, critics believe that at 23, Todd was too young and could not have had the experience to author the Bitcoin whitepaper.
Jeffrey Esptein

Millions of pages of Department of Justice (DOJ) files released between late 2025 and February 2026 confirm that Jeffrey Epstein was an active early investor and networker within the Bitcoin ecosystem. The now-public documents triggered a viral narrative that Epstein could be the main individual behind Bitcoin.
Investigators and fact-checkers have since confirmed the emails were doctored and the document fabricated. They cited formatting errors and the use of an email address not found in authenticated Epstein records as reasons enough to discredit such claims. Meanwhile, authentic DOJ files reveal that Epstein claimed to have direct access to Bitcoin founders despite not claiming to be the founder.
Epstein died in a New York prison cell on 10 August 2019 as he awaited, without the chance of bail, his trial on sex trafficking charges. He was previously convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.
In the meantime, discussions surrounding the Epstein case surged after U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress overwhelmingly passed, ordering the Justice Department to release all its files from the criminal investigations into Epstein. The event also reignited discussions around his role in Bitcoin’s creation.
Conclusion
Besides the above-listed individuals, there are several other crypto community players and technology experts who users allege to be the creator, or members of the team that created Bitcoin. These individuals include Jack Dorsey, Len Sassaman, and Paul Le Roux, among others.
Despite the allegations and claims, the identity of Bitcoin’s original creator remains a mystery, aligning with the fundamental philosophy contained in the whitepaper, which describes Bitcoin as the people’s money that should not be controlled by a centralized entity.

#BTC #TrendingTopic #SatoshiNakamoto

XRP has lost approximately 7% of its value this week, continuing to trend under bearish pressure. Although the cryptocurrency has significantly declined over the past six weeks, analysts remain optimistic about a potential rebound. 
With a current value of $1.36, target-focused XRP users get $1,360 for 1,000 XRP tokens. Most of these users are curious about how much those tokens will be worth by the end of Q1 2026. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that AI models appear more optimistic than human analysts, with most predicting higher short-term targets.
Derivatives and Spot Flows Signal Caution

XRP derivatives data reflects a completed leverage cycle. Open interest expanded sharply in late Q4 as price surged. Subsequently, declining open interest followed rising volatility. Hence, forced liquidations and position closures reduced speculative exposure. Despite occasional price stability, leverage conviction continued to fade.
Recently, open interest stabilized at lower levels. This shift suggests leverage excess has cleared. Consequently, the market now favors consolidation rather than aggressive directional bets.

Spot flow data supports this cautious tone. Net outflows dominated recent months, indicating ongoing distribution pressure. Moreover, red flow sessions intensified during price declines. Brief inflow spikes appeared occasionally. However, they failed to alter the broader trend. Hence, spot demand remains limited, reinforcing the bearish structure.
Q1 2026 XRP Price Forecast Scenarios
Most cryptocurrency analysts, including AI algorithms, have identified bullish, base, and bearish scenarios for XRP in Q1 2026. The bullish outcome would see XRP return above $3.0, assuming spot XRP ETF inflows continue to increase and the U.S. lawmakers pass the CLARITY Act. 
CryptoRank AI predicts an optimistic $4.40 target for XRP by the end of March 2026, implying that 1,000 XRP tokens will be worth $4,400 by that time. In the meantime, most human-based crypto analysis platforms, such as CoinDCX and LiteFinance, remain within the $2.40 to $2.60 XRP price range for Q1 2026. The basis for their prediction is on moderate institutional interest and the steady growth of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. For this category, holding 1,000 XRP tokens by the end of Q1 2026 will give between $2,400 and $2,600.
Meanwhile, less optimistic users remain cautious, noting that weakening ETF demand or persistent macroeconomic headwinds could increase pressure on XRP, causing it to trade within the $1.45-$1.52 price range, therefore equating 1,000 XRP to between $1,450 and $1,520.
Key Drivers for XRP Price in Q1 2026

Amid the varying predictions and the potential outcomes for XRP, it is worth noting that the critical drivers behind the cryptocurrency’s price development include ETF momentum, supply squeeze, banking option, and macroeconomic developments. 
XRP ETFs have absorbed an impressive $1.23 billion in total inflows since launching in late 2025. Analysts believe the cryptocurrency will rally higher if spot XRP ETF products sustain a steady monthly inflow of $300 million. Meanwhile, most users believe a continued tightening of supply, similar to the 2025 scenario, when exchange balances dropped by 57%, will trigger a spike in XRP’s price.
In the meantime, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse projects the XRP blockchain will capture roughly 14% of SWIFT’s transaction volume within five years. Garlinghouse’s comment has boosted bullish sentiment around XRP, representing a major demand driver for the digital asset.
$XRP #xrp #TrendingTopic

Key points:
Bitcoin is trading in a key historical zone, but buyer pressure is too weak to break resistance.Analysis sees the current range resistance potentially lingering for months.February BTC price downside has almost beaten 2025.
Analysis: Bitcoin bulls too weak to crack $69,000
Data from TradingView put daily BTC price losses at nearly 3% after the $70,000 area again provided weak support.

Still facing bottom predictions of $50,000 or lower, BTC/USD offered traders little reason to flip bullish.
Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, noted the importance of the current narrow trading range.
“$BTC continues to show signs of weakness around $69k, however, if you look back to 202,4 you will notice that price spent an extraordinary amount of time consolidating in this range,” he wrote in one of his latest posts on X. 
“That 8 months of consolidation, coupled with the 2021 Top created structural strength at this level, and it's good to see the market acknowledging that.”

The significance of $69,000 means that it could act as a double-edged sword in the future.
“If a bullish catalyst emerges and triggers a recovery, we can conclude that the additional consolidation in this range, fortified structural support,” Alan continued. 
“Likewise, if the downtrend extends from here as history (and the charts) suggests, resistance at this range will be even stronger than it was in 2024. That doesn't mean it will be impenetrable, it just means that it's going to take a lot of momentum to break it. At this moment in time, we aren't seeing enough momentum to do that in a sustainable way.”
BTC price eyes biggest February loss since 2014
Mondays have been particularly lucrative for short positions since Bitcoin began breaking down from all-time highs in October 2025.

Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass shows that at -14.4%, Bitcoin’s February losses in 2026 are almost on par with last year’s performance. Still, since 2013, February has only ended in the red three times.

$BTC #BTC #TrendingTopic

Be Machi Big Brother:
- teenage years spent obsessed with hip-hop and American culture
- forms L.A. Boyz in 1991 with his brother and cousin
- becomes one of the first Mandarin rap groups ever
- sells hundreds of thousands of albums, tours Asia, appears in LA Times
late 90s:
- launches MACHI Entertainment under Warner Music
- produces for Jay Chou and Jolin Tsai
2000s: turns to tech
- founds TheOne Technology Group and merges it in a $60M deal
- by 2015 launches 17Live, Asia’s top live-stream app
- IPO plans in New York fail after investor disputes
- sells his shares and looks for the next
2017: discovers crypto
- launches Mithril (MITH), a “social mining” project that pays users in tokens
- raises $13M but price collapses 80% within months
- joins Formosa Financial as advisor, raises 44,000 ETH (~$37M)
- 22,000 ETH later disappear from the treasury, never recovered
2020: enters DeFi
- forks Compound and creates Cream Finance
- protocol suffers multiple exploits, $192M+ drained
- launches a wave of forks: Mith Cash, Wifey Finance, Typhoon Cash
- most die within weeks
2021-2023: goes all-in on NFTs
- becomes one of the biggest BAYC whales
- holds more than 200 apes, worth over $9M
- later dumps 1,000+ NFTs in two days, crashing floor prices
- community calls it “the Machi dump”
2022: ZachXBT publishes investigation
- accuses him of scamming 22,000 ETH and running over ten failed projects
- Machi sues for defamation in Texas
- the case ends quietly after edits to the article
2024: launches memecoin Boba Oppa on Solana
- raises over $40M from presale hype
- price falls 74% in a month
- blamed for another “soft rug”
2025: trades aggressively on Hyperliquid
- opens 15–25x longs on ETH, PUMP, and HYPE
- loses over $53M in a few months
#WhaleDeRiskETH #TrendingTopic

SBF said that FTX was never bankrupt and that he never filed for it.He states that the lawyers seized the company and quickly filed for bogus bankruptcy.Court records and experts have shown that there was serious financial mismanagement.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the defunct FTX ($FTT ) exchange, has repeated a controversial claim that the exchange wasn’t actually insolvent when it declared bankruptcy in November 2022. In a post on X, he said, “FTX was never bankrupt. I never filed for it.” 
He suggests that lawyers pushed for the filing to serve their own interests, seizing the company and quickly filing what he calls a “bogus bankruptcy.” Earlier, he said FTX’s US branch was solvent when its wallets were reviewed, and it shouldn’t have been part of the bankruptcy.
Also, Bankman-Fried blamed the Biden administration, saying his prosecution and the entire bankruptcy case were politically driven, a form of political enforcement.
These claims repeat arguments he has been making for a while, both online and in court documents.
Legal Facts
FTX officially filed for bankruptcy in Delaware in November 2022 after a sudden liquidity crisis due to a huge wave of customer withdrawals and lost trust.
Bankman-Fried was later found guilty on seven major fraud charges, with the trial showing that billions of dollars of customer money had been improperly used, leaving an $8 billion hole in customer funds.
He is now serving a 25-year prison sentence, which was handed down in 2024.
Contrary to what the former CEO says, court records and experts who worked on the bankruptcy have shown there was serious financial mismanagement, a lack of controls, and that FTX and its sister company, Alameda, misused customer money.
A former restructuring official involved in the case at the time said that the record-keeping and business controls were in terrible shape, which goes against the claim that the company was financially sound. Also, court filings showed that FTX apparently never had board meetings, and the crypto that customers deposited wasn’t even recorded on its financial books.
Although Bankman-Fried points to certain documents in his posts, his claims haven’t changed the official court rulings or the reality that the bankruptcy filing was legally processed and accepted.
It seems the recent postings and the angle of political motivation blaming Biden are his way of cozying up to Donald Trump in hopes of a pardon, even though Trump stated in January that he has no pardon plans for Sam Bankman-Fried.
#FTX #TrendingTopic

Strategy $MSTR executive chairman Michael Saylor has affirmed that the firm will not stop buying Bitcoin despite the prevailing volatility and unrealized losses on the company’s investment. He dismissed arguments that declining prices will force the company to liquidate its holdings.

Michael Saylor Affirms Strategy Will Not Sell
In an interview with CNBC, the Strategy co-founder said they will not sell their BTC holdings, despite speculation that market conditions may force the company to do so. He noted that Strategy considers its Bitcoin purchase as a long-term decision and not a short-term one.
Michael Saylor maintained that the credit risk associated with Strategy is very low, even in extreme circumstances. Instead, he claimed that Bitcoin would need to drop about 90% and remain down for years before refinancing would become challenging. He insisted that, in such a case, the company would still be able to roll forward its debt obligations. This echoes Strategy CEO Phong Le’s recent statement that Bitcoin would have to drop to $8,000 and remain there through 2032 for them to face liquidation risks.
Meanwhile, the Strategy co-founder noted that his company owns decades of dividends in Bitcoin. This huge reserve will give it a great financial buffer. With this, he feels that there is no cause to worry about forced liquidation as being exaggerated by short-term traders.
Michael Saylor also addressed speculation about Strategy’s financial situation. He claimed that the company has two and a half years of cash reserves to make dividend and debt payments. He added that the net leverage ratio of Strategy is one-half of an average investment-grade company.
Strategy Will Keep Buying Bitcoin
The executive chairman also clarified that Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation plans have not changed. He said the company has raised billions in capital to further accumulate Bitcoin. “We’re not going to be selling. We are going to be buying bitcoin, Michael Saylor said.
He further indicated that Strategy will buy Bitcoin each quarter going forward. On Monday, Strategy declared another weekly Bitcoin buy of 1,142 BTC between February 2 and 8. According to Saylor, volatility is a characteristic of the asset. Also, he remarked that Bitcoin provides two to three times better returns than traditional assets like gold, equities, and real estate over a multi-year timeframe.
The company’s commitment to keep buying more Bitcoin despite the fact that it is facing an unrealized loss of $5.1 billion on its BTC holdings. This follows BTC’s crash below Strategy’s average buy price of $76,056 for its Bitcoin investment.
Saylor Comments On Market Volatility
Michael Saylor also explained that a recent volatility in the shares of Strategy was a result of a market pullback of Bitcoin. The Strategy co-founder said the last four months had been an unprecedented drawdown for MSTR stock, but noted that it recently posted a 25% gain in a day.
He argued that Strategy’s stock is more liquid on a market cap basis than any of the Mag 7 stocks by 2.34 times. He also indicated that open interest in MSTR options is presently the highest when compared with other top U.S. equities.
There is also ongoing downside momentum in the company’s stock due to the crash in BTC. MSTR stock has dropped to $134.93, down 2.38% over the last day, according to TradingView data.

Another point raised during the interview was that Bitcoin has a structural floor price of about $60,000 due to the cost of production for miners. Michael Saylor downplayed this argument. He said that increasing the presence of large banks and institutional credit markets will cause a much more significant impact on the movement of BTC’s price.
Saylor refused to give a 12-month prediction on the price of Bitcoin. Instead, he predicts that Bitcoin would perform two to three times better compared to the S&P 500 in the next four to eight years.

#BTC #TrendingTopic