Originally published on: September 27, 2024
The founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has been released from a United States federal prison after completing a four-month sentence for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations. CZ, who pleaded guilty to federal charges last November for failing to implement proper AML controls at Binance, stepped down as the CEO of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volumes.
CZ’s reported net worth of around $60 billion makes him the wealthiest individual to ever serve a prison sentence in the US. After agreeing to return from Dubai to serve his sentence, CZ spent two months in a minimum security prison in California before being transferred to a halfway house in Long Beach for supervised daytime excursions.
“We are thrilled that CZ is back home with his family,” a spokesperson for Binance expressed to Cointelegraph.
The four-month sentence was a reduction from the original 36 months sought by the US Department of Justice, reflecting the seriousness of the violations, which also included unlicensed money transmitting and sanctions breaches. Despite paying a $50 million fine, CZ’s personal wealth was unaffected, and he retains the majority stake in Binance, estimated to be around 90%.
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