Picture source: Visual China Author | Wen Shijun Editor | Wang Weikai Produced | Prism·Tencent Xiaoman Studio The richest prisoner in American history is released from prison. On September 27, the founder of Binance…

Canadian former Chinese richest man and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was released in the United States: he can go out to watch movies during his sentence

Although he is imprisoned in the United States, Zhao Changpeng is not an American. He was born in Jiangsu, China, and holds dual nationality of Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

Zhao Changpeng was a programmer who developed trading software. In 2017, he founded Binance in Shanghai. Within a few years, Binance quickly grew into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a market share of more than 2/3 at its peak and is still above 50%.

In September 2024, Binance’s cumulative transaction volume exceeded US$100 trillion. Binance’s own cryptocurrency “Binance Coin (bnb)” has also risen from US$0.1 in 2017 to about US$605 currently.

In 2021, Zhao Changpeng's wealth once reached US$94.1 billion, making him the richest Chinese in the world. In April this year, before Zhao Changpeng was sentenced in the United States, this figure was still as high as US$39.7 billion, ranking 38th on the world's richest list.

Regarding Zhao Changpeng’s sentence in the United States, it was originally scheduled to end on September 29. However, because the release day fell on a weekend, according to US law, he was able to leave the Reintegration Management Center (Long Beach RRM) in Long Beach early on September 27 (Friday).

His lawyer told the media that Zhao Changpeng did not want to be interviewed on the day of his release.

On the day of his release, 47-year-old Zhao Changpeng's personal wealth continued to drop to 30 billion U.S. dollars, but he was still the richest man in Canada. On the global rich list, he was only one place lower than Li Ka-shing , who was worth 30.3 billion U.S. dollars, ranking 61st. .

On social media Holders of bitcoin .

In fact, Changpeng Zhao’s resignation as CEO of Binance, which he founded, was also part of the agreement reached with the United States.

In response to the U.S. review of Binance and himself, on November 21, 2023, Changpeng Zhao went to the United States and signed a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. In the agreement, Changpeng Zhao admitted that Binance violated the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program and intentionally violated U.S. economic sanctions.

A long time ago, although Binance established Binance US (binance.us), a cryptocurrency trading platform that complies with US laws and regulations. However, Binance still allows and even encourages some US users to prove that they are "not" in the United States in order to use Binance, which is outside the US regulatory system, to conduct cryptocurrency transactions.

After all, freedom from regulation is one of the most important reasons for the existence of cryptocurrency, and it is also an important reason for the development and growth of Binance.

According to this plea agreement, Changpeng Zhao must pay a personal fine of US$50 million, resign as CEO of Binance, and shall not participate in any activities of Binance within three years. On the same day, Binance announced that Singaporean Richard Teng would take over as CEO.

On the same day, Binance reached a settlement with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), paying fines of US$3.4 billion and US$968 million respectively, setting the largest record in the history of the US Treasury Department. Settlement amount.

In addition, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (cftc) also reached a settlement with Binance on November 21, 2023. Binance needs to hand over US$1.35 billion in "illegal income" and pay an equal amount of fines.Changpeng Zhao personally also needs to pay a fine of US$150 million to the committee.

However, this settlement agreement does not include the 13 charges against Binance by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating U.S. securities laws. This lawsuit has not yet concluded. Recently, as Zhao Changpeng’s release from prison approaches, SEC has once again reiterated Binance’s violation of federal securities laws.

In August this year, three more cryptocurrency investors filed a lawsuit against Binance and Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the stolen funds were laundered through Binance.

These pending cases have made it unclear whether Zhao Changpeng can return home to the United Arab Emirates as soon as possible after being released from prison. Last year, Zhao Changpeng flew to the United States "voluntarily" to sign a plea agreement. He planned to leave the United States immediately after signing and return home to the United Arab Emirates.

According to a survey by Forbes magazine in the United States, Zhao Changpeng purchased a 1,077.68-square-meter, six-bedroom apartment in Dubai for US$13.5 million in October 2021. The

apartment is located in the luxury residential building "118" in the center of Dubai. It is 45 stories high and has only 28 finely decorated luxury apartments. A core selling point of these apartments is the large 3.5-meter floor-to-ceiling windows inside, allowing residents to enjoy a 360-degree view of the magnificent city skyline of Dubai Financial District.

A bedroom in Apartment 118 displayed on the luxury property trading website, source: luxhabitat.ae

It is worth mentioning that Zhao Changpeng sold the real estate in Shanghai in 2014 and instead purchased valuable properties for about US$600 per coin. About $1 million in Bitcoin, thus becoming a staunch “non-house buyer.”

In May 2018, during an online communication event held by Binance, his friend He Yi revealed that Zhao Changpeng had neither purchased real estate nor a car. Changpeng Zhao himself has repeatedly emphasized the importance of asset liquidity in his personal wealth management, and explained that he avoids buying houses because the liquidity of real estate is relatively weak.

’s purchase of real estate in Dubai was also considered by the outside world to be a show of goodwill to Dubai. He had hoped to locate Binance’s global headquarters in Dubai.

In American judicial practice, plea agreements are very common. According to the American Bar Association, in recent years, approximately 98% of federal criminal cases have been resolved through plea bargaining or plea agreements.

Changpeng Zhao "voluntarily" flew to the United States, admitted guilt at the personal level, and Binance at the corporate level, paid a huge fine for criminal and regulatory settlement, and promised that Binance would operate in the United States in accordance with U.S. laws and regulations, hoping in exchange for a lighter penalty.

According to the plea agreement, the maximum prison term of the plea agreement signed by Zhao Changpeng and the Ministry of Justice is 18 months.

is already "opening up the Internet". Just over a month before Changpeng Zhao was sentenced, on March 28, Sam Bankman-Fried, the "post-90s" co-founder and CEO of ftx exchange, known as the "Jewish King of the Currency Circle" bankman-fried), was sentenced to 25 years in prison for massive fraud.

But 18 months is still too long. In order to further shorten the sentence, Zhao Changpeng hired top lawyers Benjamin A. Naftalis and William A. Burck.

Zhao Changpeng himself, as well as 161 people including his family, friends, friends, political and business leaders, colleagues, industry experts, Binance angel investors, and users, jointly submitted a letter of petition to the judge.

Zhao Changpeng said in his letter to the judge: "I apologize for my wrong decision and take full responsibility for my actions."

He himself also explained the reason for coming to the United States and being punished: "I don't like to stay either. Unresolved problems. This is why I will voluntarily "surrender" and take responsibility - because I want to solve the problem in front of the court and start over."

Zhao Changpeng's partner He Yi wrote in the plea letter: "As cz. Life partner, I have known cz for nearly ten years. "cz is the abbreviation of Zhao Changpeng's name, which is also his self-proclaimed name and the name given to him by the "currency circle".

He Yi said in the letter that Zhao Changpeng lives a simple life. He "knows nothing about jewelry, luxury goods, luxury cars, and art auctions that rich people are passionate about." He maintains high-quality interaction with his young children and is very close to him. Now they are always asking: Why is Dad not at home? When will Dad come back?

He Yi believes that Zhao Changpeng’s “biggest mistake is ignorance.” Not knowingly. In fact, in addition to Richard Teng, a Singaporean professional manager who replaced Changpeng Zhao as Binance CEO, He Yi was the "real power" of Binance after Changpeng Zhao left the market.

The Wall Street Journal of the United States stated that He Yi holds at least 10% of the shares of Binance Cayman Islands Holdings. In the absence of Zhao Changpeng, He Yi has become Binance’s largest shareholder. He Yi “holds extensive control” over Binance’s marketing and investment businesses, and also “exercises influence” in board elections.

Zhao Changpeng's wife Yang Weiqing also said in her plea letter: "He rarely misses any opportunity to take care of the children with his own hands, changing diapers, breastfeeding, accompanying the children on trips, etc."

Yang Weiqing called Zhao Changpeng "Changpeng." She continued in the letter: "Changpeng has also taken care of my family for many years. He helped my parents buy a house in Tokyo. He also helped my nephew find a job." She begged the judge to give Zhao Changpeng a lighter sentence and give him a opportunity to continue taking good care of his loved ones.

On the morning of April 30, 2024, the day of the trial, Zhao Changpeng was wearing a blue suit and a light blue tie. While waiting for the delayed trial, he " It's like sitting on pins and needles."

This is because just a week ago, the U.S. Department of Justice increased the sentence request to three years. According to U.S. law, judges have corresponding discretion.

In the end, African-American federal judge Richard A. Jones sentenced Zhao Changpeng to four months in prison, far less than the three years in prison recommended by prosecutors.

Obviously Zhao Changpeng and his partners are satisfied with the result.

He posted on social media x, "Thank you everyone for your concern and support, whether it is writing letters, posting on x, or expressing support in any other form." He said that he would “focus on the next chapter of his life: education.” He also did not forget to give Binance’s User Asset Security Fund (safu) a “soft advertisement” in the article.

Subsequently, He Yi forwarded a social tweet by Zhao Changpeng on March 6, 2023, "remember 4 (remember 4)" and commented "got it". It seemed to the outside world that Zhao Changpeng and those around him had "predicted" the four-month sentence.

Zhao Changpeng began serving his sentence one month after the verdict. While waiting to serve his sentence, Zhao Changpeng said in an x ​​interaction with He Yi that he might use his sentence to write an autobiography:

"I will have some 'quiet' time and will use this time to write something." He Yi Reposted this article and wrote in English with a rather "involution" Chinese style of thinking: "Want to know how cz grew from an hourly employee at McDonald's to the founder of Binance? Do you want to know the secret of Binance's success? ?”

But in fact, Zhao Changpeng may not have been clean for that long. The sentence itself was not long, and Zhao Changpeng served about two months in the Federal Prison in SeaTac (FDC Seatac) before being transferred to the Long Beach "Halfway House" (Long Beach RRM) to prepare for "returning to society." Work.

American Fortune magazine quoted a prison staff as saying that at the halfway house, Zhao Changpeng could go out under supervision and even go to the movies.

I don’t know if this arrangement will affect the progress of writing the autobiography.

In other words, when the United States punishes Zhao Changpeng, it is not to suppress him mentally or physically, but to express its stance on the cryptocurrency world. With Zhao Changpeng's guilty plea, sentencing, and prison sentence, the United States' regulatory attitude towards the cryptocurrency industry has become increasingly clear: it will not completely ban it, but will adopt more stringent supervision.