Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, and the world’s richest prisoner has been convicted of violating the United States’ anti-money laundering and economic sanctions laws. And has been sentenced to four months in prison. Zhao, who once dominated the crypto market before seeing his empire collapse, created Binance. Which is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world today. His sentencing places him in the second echelon of the top cryptocurrency leaders who end up in jail together with Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX head.
What sets Zhao’s case apart is that he is the richest man to be jailed in the States and possibly in the whole world. His net worth is estimated to be $43 billion (around Rs 360,969 crore) by Bloomberg. Notably, his net worth is anticipated to increase due to the continued appreciation of the value of the cryptocurrencies even from behind bars.
Although Zhao resigned as the CEO of Binance at the end of the prior year. He is still associated with the firm. Most of the employees that he interacted with are still on the board of Binance and Zhao remains the largest shareholder of the company with around 90% ownership. This strong affiliation with Binance suggests that he still has considerable power and assertiveness in running it.
District Judge Richard Jones from the District of Seattle, who looked over the case, delivered Zhao a significantly lesser sentence. At first, the prosecutors had sought more than three years imprisonment however, Zhao was released with only four months imprisonment. This is also much lower than the federal guidelines that permit such crimes to be tried within a maximum of 18 months. For instance, Sam Bankman Fried, the founder of FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement. However, Bankman-Fried is now seeking leniency and has a chance to lessen his sentence due to the appeal of the guilty verdict.
Although Zhao has a future in prison, his financial capability as well as the influence of the Bitcoin exchange cannot be completely curled, even though he is behind the bar.
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