Canadian Binance founder Changpeng Zhao gets four months in prison
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was ordered to spend four months in prison for failures that allowed cybercriminals and terrorist groups to freely trade on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
A Canadian citizen, Zhao, 47, was sentenced Tuesday by United States District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle. Dressed in a dark suit with a light blue tie, the billionaire arrived in court flanked by half a dozen lawyers. His mother and sister watched his sentencing from the front row of the courtroom.
The sentence was far below the three years requested by prosecutors, who had sought to make an example out of Zhao to a heavily-scrutinized industry rebounding from a slew of high-profile scandals. It is the first time a chief executive has ever gone to jail for a bank secrecy act violation, a charge that has been used repeatedly in crypto prosecutions in recent years.
In imposing the sentence, Jones said he hoped Zhao understood that, despite “wealth, power and status,” no person is immune from prosecution or above the law. Zhao, who didn’t visibly react to the sentence, is expected to serve his four-month stint at Seattle’s Federal Detention Center, SeaTac. A date for Zhao to turn himself in to prison authorities has not been decided, although he has expressed eagerness to get back to his family in the United Arab Emirates.
In a post on X after the sentencing, Zhao said “I will do my time, conclude this phase and focus on the next chapter of my life (education).” He added that he “will remain a passive investor (and holder) in crypto.”
I would like to thank everyone for your care and support, be it writing letters, showing support on X, or in any other form. They all mean a lot to me and keep me strong. I will do my time,
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