📚 CZ skips NFTs, chooses Amazon for book launch

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) released his autobiography, and one thing stood out to parts of the crypto community; it wasn’t very “crypto.” It had no NFT tie-in, no token-gated access, and no on-chain experiment, but just Amazon.

This decision caught the attention of Colin Wu, and he questioned why one of crypto’s biggest figures would choose such a traditional route. He argued that the book could have supported crypto payments or included a soulbound NFT for buyers at the very least. Wu feels there could be something that would align more closely with Web3 principles.

🔸 CZ defends Amazon launch

Wu, in an X post, pointed to Vitalik Buterin’s 2022 book Proof of Stake. Its launch took a very different path. Its release allowed readers to donate Ether to receive a digital copy, paired with an NFT. However, the proceeds (including royalties) from the sales went toward Gitcoin Grants. This became an early example of how publishing could fit in with crypto-linked distribution.

In that context, CZ’s approach felt unusually conservative. Meanwhile, Zhao had dismissed the idea that there was anything deeper behind the choice.

“It’s not that complicated,” he wrote. “You don’t have to raise a cow just to drink milk.” He added that he has always bought books on Amazon. He implied that building a custom crypto-based distribution system just for one release didn’t make much sense. CZ mentioned that he hopes people outside the crypto industry could easily buy and read it. Looks like the goal was accessibility.

💬 没那么复杂。喝牛奶不一定要养奶牛。我一直在亚马逊买书。电商不是我们的专长。为了一本书自己搞个买书的功能好像有点麻烦。另外希望非加密行业的也能容易买到。— CZ (@CZ )

In another post, Wu went in with the idea of a traditional launch as a crypto looped release could introduce many complications. He stated that CZ might want to use a more prudent, safer issuance method that avoids all sorts of tax issues.

#CZ