On September 27, local time, former Chinese billionaire and Binance founder Zhao Changpeng was released from prison two days ahead of the scheduled release date of September 29. Zhao had been sentenced to a 4-month imprisonment in the US back in April. Originally, he was facing 36 months of prison after admitting to violations of anti-money laundering laws, but this was reduced. Zhao had already resigned from his position as Binance CEO in November last year when the violations were acknowledged, and Binance agreed to a $4.32 billion fine.
US District Judge Richard Jones remarked that Zhao had the resources to comply with every regulation but missed the opportunity. Attempts by Zhao's lawyer to secure a five-month probation were unsuccessful.
The SEC is still investigating Binance for various illegal activities. In June 2023, SEC brought 13 charges against Binance and Zhao, including operating an unregistered exchange and misuse of customer funds. Binance has stated that the company is cooperating with the SEC and is working to resolve regulatory issues. Given the history of fines from other US regulators, Binance might face penalties from the SEC as well.
Zhao Changpeng, born in 1977 in Jiangsu, China, moved to Vancouver, Canada at the age of 12. He studied computer science at McGill University in Montreal. After graduating in 1997, Zhao worked as a software developer for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and later at Bloomberg in New York. In 2005, he founded high-frequency trading system developer Fusion Systems in Shanghai and ventured into the cryptocurrency world in 2013.
In 2017, Zhao founded Binance with his team, launching the Binance Coin (BNB, Financial). Binance rapidly grew to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, attracting millions of users with over $10 billion in daily trading volume by the end of that year. By 2021, Binance had 3,000 employees worldwide and a daily trading volume of $76 billion. Zhao held 30% of Binance shares, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $94.1 billion by the end of 2021. However, the subsequent drop in cryptocurrency values saw his net worth fall to $17.4 billion.
In 2023, Zhao's wealth surged again as Bitcoin prices recovered. According to the Forbes 2024 Global Billionaires List published on April 3, Zhao was ranked 50th with a net worth of $33 billion.
