Former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao commits to investing in blockchain, AI after prison release

Former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao has committed to continue to invest in blockchain, artificial intelligence and biotechnology as part of his new life goals following his release from US custody. This is according to his first post on social media platform X over the weekend.

Zhao – formerly known as Inmate #88087-510 – served three months in a low-security prison, Lompoc II, on California’s central coast. Lompoc prison has 2,160 inmates across the camp and main facility. In August, he was moved to a halfway house in San Pedro, California.

At an estimated net worth of $25.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index, he is believed to be the richest person to ever go to prison in the U.S. Changpeng Zhao, who is the co-founder of the Binance Holdings digital-asset exchange described himself as a long-term investor who cares about “impact, not returns.”

Zhao’s release comes two days ahead of his scheduled release date which was yesterday, Sunday, September 29th. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is allowed to release prisoners early if their release date falls on a weekend or holiday.

The trials of Changpeng Zhao

Zhao, also known as CZ, is one of the sector’s most recognizable figures having turned Binance into a very successful exchange.

Recall that Binance was hit with a $4.3 billion penalty in November 2023 under a plea deal to settle US charges over failures that let criminals and terror groups use the exchange.

In April, Zhao was sentenced to jail for four months for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to set up an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program at Binance. They claimed that the lack of an AML program allowed illicit actors, including crypto mixers, hackers and terrorist groups including al-Qaeda and ISIS, to trade Bitcoin on the platform.

As part of his guilty plea, Zhao also agreed to pay a $50 million fine and step down as CEO of the crypto exchange. He was succeeded by Richard Teng, who previously oversaw the exchange’s regional business outside the United States. The exchange also agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine to some U.S. regulators to settle related charges.

Binance also faces years of compliance monitoring by the Justice Department and the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Like CZ, Like Bankman Fried

Recall that following a similar, the founder of the crypto exchange platform, FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a judge today for stealing $8 billion from customers’ funds.

A New York District Judge, Lewis Kaplan handed down the sentence at a Manhattan court hearing after rejecting Bankman-Fried’s claim that FTX customers did not lose money. The judge also accused him of lying during his trial testimony. 

SBF was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of commodities fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy. The 32-year-old former CEO had been found guilty by a jury in November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy which led to FTX’s 2022 collapse.

Federal prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years. His crimes each carry a maximum sentence of between five and 20 years in prison with the wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy carrying a maximum 20-year sentence. Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyer Marc Mukasey had argued that a sentence of less than 5-1/4 years would be appropriate.

The sentence marked the culmination of Bankman-Fried’s plunge from an ultra-wealthy entrepreneur and major political donor to the biggest trial, so far, in a crackdown by U.S. authorities on malfeasance in cryptocurrency markets.