Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder of Binance, walked out of U.S. federal prison this week, wrapping up a four-month stint. He had pled guilty to AML violations, plus some sanctions mess-ups, related to his exchange. Binance, by the way, is the largest crypto trading platform by daily volume—so this was a big deal. But with $60 billion in net worth, CZ’s still the richest guy to ever wear a prison uniform in the U.S.
The charges came from the Department of Justice after Binance dropped the ball on implementing proper Anti-Money Laundering controls. That’s how CZ ended up serving time. But here’s the thing: he was originally looking at a 36-month sentence. The final result? Just four months behind bars, way less than anyone thought.
A Short Stay, Big Fine, and Binance Keeps Moving
CZ agreed to come back from Dubai in April, heading straight to prison. He spent two months in a minimum-security spot down in southern California. The next two months? A halfway house in Long Beach where he had supervised outings during the day. Not too shabby, right?
But while CZ was cooling his heels, Binance kept going strong. The company’s new leadership has been steering the ship without a hitch, now boasting over 230 million users globally. Binance even put out a statement, saying they’re happy CZ’s back home, but he’s no longer in the driver’s seat.
Although CZ is out now, let’s not forget that he had to cough up $50 million in fines as part of his guilty plea. Meanwhile, Binance itself had to fork over $4.3 billion for breaking U.S. AML rules. But the whole saga doesn’t seem to have touched CZ’s personal fortune. He still holds 90% of Binance, and his wallet looks just fine.
U.S. Legal Trouble, But CZ Walks Free
The DOJ didn’t just stop at AML violations. They also slapped CZ with charges for unlicensed money transmitting and sanction breaches. Turns out, Binance allowed U.S. users to interact with countries under U.S. sanctions—like Iran. Prosecutors say CZ knew Binance wasn’t blocking those transactions, but the Seattle district court judge wasn’t convinced CZ knew everything.
That’s why his sentence was cut short, and he’s now free
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