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changpeng zhao has paid a total of more than us$7 billion to quell the turmoil, but he still has a net worth of approximately us$30 billion.

author丨yi man editor丨fern ying

changpeng zhao, the richest prisoner in american history and the former richest man in china, is out of prison. he also has a well-known identity as the founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange "binance".

on saturday morning, beijing time, zhao changpeng posted "gm" on the social platform to announce that he had officially regained his freedom and returned to the internet stage. the last time zhao changpeng spoke publicly was at the end of may this year, and since june, he has been imprisoned on suspicion of multiple illegal activities.

in june 2023, the u.s. securities and exchange commission filed 13 charges against binance entities and founder changpeng zhao, including operating an illegal trading platform in the united states; operating an unregistered exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing agency; abusing customer funds; failing to registered securities offerings and sales, etc.

47-year-old zhao changpeng was also charged by the u.s. justice department with multiple crimes, including failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering plan. changpeng zhao pleaded guilty in november last year to failing to implement an adequate anti-money laundering program at binance.

Part.1

the storm is coming to an end

in order to reach a settlement agreement, changpeng zhao agreed to pay a personal fine of up to us$50 million, resign as ceo of binance, and promised not to hold any senior management positions in the company. in addition, binance also agreed to accept asset confiscation of up to us$2.51 billion and pay a criminal fine of us$1.81 billion, for a total confiscation amount of us$4.32 billion.

after accepting the penalty from the u.s. department of justice, the u.s. commodity futures trading commission announced a $2.85 billion penalty against binance and changpeng zhao in december 2023. so far, binance and changpeng zhao have paid a total of more than 7 billion us dollars. it is expected that binance will still face fines from the u.s. securities and exchange commission in the future.

in order to be consistent with regulatory requirements, binance decided to increase compliance investment after receiving a huge fine. as of january 2024, binance has actively assisted relevant authorities in freezing and confiscating more than $1 billion worth of crypto assets in public and private cooperation to prevent malicious activities; by july 2024, binance has successfully processed nearly 174,000 cooperation requests, responding to more than 63,000 law enforcement requests this year alone, up from 58,000 in 2023.

on april 23 this year, u.s. prosecutors stated in a court document that zhao changpeng should serve 36 months in prison after admitting to violating anti-money laundering laws. however, at the sentencing hearing held in seattle, the verdict was far lower than the prosecutor's request, and zhao changpeng was finally sentenced to four months in prison. more than a month before zhao changpeng was sentenced to imprisonment, the post-90s ceo of ftx exchange, known as the "king of the jewish currency circle", was sentenced to 25 years in prison for large-scale fraud.

affected by the sharp fluctuations in the prices of bitcoin and binance coin, changpeng zhao's wealth in prison was like riding a "roller coaster". since his imprisonment in early june, his personal wealth has been estimated at approximately $36 billion. however, in early july, this value briefly climbed to $45 billion before plummeting to $22 billion in early september. despite this, changpeng zhao's net worth was still as high as $30 billion when he was released from prison.

after zhao changpeng was released from prison, he was required to stay away from the company's "daily" activities. however, he remains the company's largest shareholder. according to forbes, changpeng zhao owns 30% of binance shares.

in other words, after being released from prison, changpeng zhao can no longer serve as a binance executive, but he still maintains great influence on the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Part.2

peaks and valleys

in 2017, changpeng zhao founded binance, which provides trading services for more than 150 cryptocurrencies. in september of the same year, the market value of bitcoin showed a surge of growth, soaring from an initial level of more than 3,000 us dollars to an eye-catching high of 20,000 us dollars. binance has grown rapidly, with the number of registered users exceeding one million in just three months.

just six months after its establishment, binance has successfully attracted more than 6 million loyal users with its ability to process up to 1.4 million transactions per second. the daily transaction volume has exceeded an astonishing us$10 billion, making it a global platform. the largest cryptocurrency exchange. in the first quarter of 2018, binance achieved a net profit of us$200 million. by 2021, binance has more than 3,000 employees worldwide, and the daily transaction volume is as high as 76 billion u.s. dollars. this value even exceeds the sum of its four main competitors.

at that time, binance was valued at us$300 billion. although binance has not yet been officially listed and has never publicly disclosed the company's specific profits, according to relevant media speculation, in the third quarter of 2021 alone, the company's net profit has reached an astonishing us$3.2 billion.

at the end of 2021, against the backdrop of the surge in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, changpeng zhao became the richest chinese man with a net worth of us$94.1 billion, and also ranked among the top ten richest people in the world. however, the good times did not last long. just half a year later, the market for bitcoin and other virtual currencies suffered a severe plunge. zhao changpeng's personal wealth also suffered a heavy blow, shrinking by more than 80% to us$17.4 billion.

from being the richest man in china to becoming a prisoner of the united states, this reflects the delicate situation of cryptocurrency in the world. for binance and changpeng zhao, using billions of dollars in fines and four months in jail to exchange for the legal burden of their barbaric growth over the past seven years is undoubtedly a "good deal" deal.