Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) was sentenced to 4 months, according to the judge’s statement.
Despite the penalty, the billionaire will keep most of his wealth.
In November, the Ministry of Justice filed a criminal complaint against Binance and Zhao. However, unlike the Justice Department’s case against other crypto criminals like Bankman-Fried and Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon, Zhao and Binance reached a deal with prosecutors. The agreement also involved several federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Judge Richard Jones ordered Zhao, who is estimated to be worth about $43 billion and is currently the richest prisoner in the United States, to pay a personal fine of $50 million in addition to his prison sentence.
During the hearing, Zhao expressed regret for the “mistakes” he made as CEO and noted that Binance had implemented a compliance program. “In my mind, I wanted to do everything possible before resigning as CEO,” Zhao said.
Judge Jones found Zhao’s “better to ask for forgiveness than permission” policy troubling. However, he ultimately decided on a sentence less than the 36 months requested by prosecutors. “Everything I see about your history and characteristics is mitigating and positive,” Jones said, citing Zhao’s loyalty to Binance and his low likelihood of reoffending.
