According to a report by the Securities Times on September 21st, there are rumors that Zhao Changpeng, the former richest Chinese man and founder of Binance, is about to be released from prison. The reporter confirmed the news from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the United States.
The reporter learned from the official website of the Bureau of Prisons in the United States that Zhao Changpeng's current location has been updated to Residential Reentry Management (RRM) located in Long Beach, central California. This means that he is undergoing preparation and evaluation before returning to society. If everything is normal, he will return to society on September 29th.
The so-called "Residential Reeducation Management Bureau", also known as the "Midway Home", mainly serves as the local liaison between the Federal Bureau of Prisons and federal courts, U.S. law enforcement agencies, state and local correctional institutions, signs contracts with federal prisons, and provides necessary assistance and support to soon to be released prisoners to ensure their smooth transition to social life. This may include providing a safe, organized, and supervised environment, offering employment training, psychological counseling, housing arrangements, financial management, and other services.
During Zhao Changpeng's imprisonment, Bitcoin fluctuated up and down by over $20000. In April of this year, when Zhao Changpeng was imprisoned, Bitcoin reached $71000 and then entered a period of significant volatility, falling below $50000 at one point. The latest price is 63192 US dollars.
Previously sentenced to 4 months in prison, I am sorry
According to Interface News, on April 30th of this year, Zhao Changpeng was sentenced to four months in prison in the United States.
Previously, on April 23 local time, the US prosecutor stated in a court document that Zhao Changpeng should serve 36 months in prison after admitting to violating anti money laundering laws. Zhao Changpeng resigned as CEO of Binance in November last year, admitting to illegal activities and the company agreed to accept a fine of $4.32 billion.
U.S. District Judge Richard Jones told Zhao Changpeng in Seattle Federal Court, "You had the ability, financial resources, and manpower to ensure compliance with every rule, but you missed this opportunity
The verdict of this former Binance executive is far below the three-year sentence sought by federal prosecutors. The defense had requested a five month probation. According to the sentencing guidelines, his sentence should be between 12 and 18 months.
According to foreign media reports, Zhao Changpeng said to the judge before the verdict, "I'm sorry." Earlier on Tuesday, Zhao Changpeng reportedly said in court, "I believe the first step to taking responsibility is to fully recognize my mistake. Here, I failed to implement a sufficient anti money laundering procedure... I now realize the seriousness of this mistake
Still worth over 230 billion yuan, he is the 50th richest person in the world
Zhao Changpeng was born in Lianyungang, Jiangsu in 1977. At the age of 12, he moved with his family to Vancouver, Canada and became a Chinese Canadian. During his university years, he studied computer science at McGill University in Montreal. In 1997, Zhao Changpeng, who graduated from university, entered the fintech industry. He first became a software developer at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and then went to New York to work for Bloomberg, participating in the development of futures trading software. At the age of 27, Zhao Changpeng, known as a programming genius, became the team leader of the company in New Jersey, London, and Tokyo.
In 2005, Zhao Changpeng founded companies such as Fuxin Information (the fastest high-frequency trading system developed specifically for securities firms) and Bijie Technology in Shanghai, earning his first bucket of gold. In 2013, he learned about Bitcoin from a friend and began to venture into the field. In 2017, Zhao Changpeng and his team founded Binance and issued the digital currency "Binance Coin" (BNB). The name Binance in English is based on the combination of binary and finance, offering trading of over 150 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and its BNB token. From September to December 2017, the price of Bitcoin soared from $3000 to $20000, and people began to compete to enter cryptocurrency exchanges. Binance developed rapidly, with over a million registered users in three months.
After just six months of establishment, Binance attracted 6 million users with its trading capacity of 1.4 million transactions per second, and its daily trading volume exceeded 10 billion US dollars, soaring to the top of the industry and becoming the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, while also creating a new myth in the cryptocurrency industry. In the first quarter of 2018, Binance made a profit of 200 million US dollars. By 2021, Binance had 3000 employees worldwide and a daily transaction volume of $76 billion, more than its four largest competitors combined. At that time, Binance was valued at $300 billion. Binance has not been listed and has not directly disclosed the company's profits. However, according to media estimates at the time, the company's profit reached 3.2 billion US dollars, equivalent to 20.3 billion yuan, in the third quarter of 2021 alone.
It is reported that Zhao Changpeng controls the majority of Binance's equity. According to Forbes data, founder Zhao Changpeng owns 30% of Binance's shares. At the end of 2021, against the backdrop of the surge in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Zhao Changpeng became the richest Chinese person with a net worth of $94.1 billion (approximately 634.8 billion yuan) and also ranked among the top ten richest people in the world. However, six months later, virtual currencies such as Bitcoin experienced a sharp decline, and Zhao Changpeng's wealth also shrank by over 80% to $17.4 billion.
In 2023, as the price of Bitcoin rebounds, Zhao Changpeng's wealth will skyrocket, far exceeding the fines that Binance has agreed to pay to US authorities. According to the "2024 Forbes Global Billionaires List" released on April 3 this year, Zhao Changpeng ranked 50th with a net worth of 33 billion US dollars (approximately 239 billion yuan).