Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao's Wealth Continues to Increase Despite Being in Prison for 4 Months

Liputan6.com, Jakarta- The billionaire who is the former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao will still have vast assets and continue to build his wealth even though he is facing time behind bars after being sentenced by a United States (US) Seattle court.

Zhao, known among crypto insiders as “CZ,” was sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange.

Quoted from CNBC, Thursday (2/5/2024), the sentence handed down to Zhao in Seattle federal court was much lighter than the three-year sentence that federal prosecutors had demanded against him. The defense had asked for five months' probation. Sentencing guidelines called for a prison sentence of 12 to 18 months.

A Binance spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC that the crypto exchange company has made substantial compliance improvements including those related to anti-money laundering detection and hiring key compliance personnel.

Meanwhile, Zhao's lawyer did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

In November, Zhao struck a deal with the US government to resolve a multi-year investigation into Binance. As part of Binance's USD 4.3 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice, Zhao stepped down as CEO of the company, and the exchange agreed to establish a board of directors with independent members, as well as a compliance and audit committee.

Of the total of seven directors recently appointed to the established board of directors, three of them were appointed through independent channels and five of them, including all independent members of the board, submitted a letter to the judge in Zhao's criminal case seeking leniency.

Although Zhao now faces prison time, industry experts and lawyers who spoke to CNBC said his enormous personal wealth will not be affected and will likely increase.

Los Angeles corporate law attorney Tre Lovell told CNBC that the government is only entitled to restitution or fines imposed and not to Zhao's assets or wealth as a whole. Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani agreed, adding that Zhao's personal wealth would not be affected by his sentence.

“Because Zhao and the government reached an agreement, the government did not make a decision or order of restitution against Zhao and made a discovery of his assets,” Rahmani said. “He will have a great fortune when he is released from prison.”

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