Why Did Zhao Changpeng Receive Such a Light Sentence?
On April 30th, local time, the District Court of Western Washington in the United States held a hearing where Judge Richard Jones announced a four-month prison sentence for former Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng (CZ). With this, the long-awaited case of Zhao Changpeng, which has attracted great attention from both inside and outside the cryptocurrency industry, finally came to a close.
In reality, Zhao Changpeng and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) are quite different. Unlike SBF, Binance and its founder Zhao Changpeng did not embezzle customer funds. Furthermore, while SBF chose to go through a foolish trial instead of surrendering himself to the court, Zhao Changpeng reached a plea agreement early on, agreeing to pay a fine of up to $4.3 billion and expressing remorse.
During the two-and-a-half-hour sentencing hearing, the 47-year-old billionaire Zhao Changpeng was no longer just an ordinary criminal defendant but a philanthropist, do-gooder, first-time offender, and family man. He surrendered himself and accepted whatever might happen. Zhao Changpeng’s reputation as a “good person” influenced the judge’s final judgment. Compared to the US Department of Justice’s strong recommendation of a three-year sentence for Zhao Changpeng, the judge ultimately gave an extremely light sentence of four months.
Judge Jones stated that he read all 161 letters submitted because it was important to understand who Zhao Changpeng is. He also mentioned that he had never seen so many letters before, not only from family members but also from people who have known Zhao Changpeng for a long time. Jones pointed out that these letters portrayed a person driven by motivation, passion, and determination. Zhao Changpeng risked all of his net worth just to make Binance succeed. The letters clearly showed that Zhao Changpeng is a family-oriented person and cited examples of Binance’s charitable endeavors.
Further Reading:
US Prosecutors Seek a 3-Year Sentence! Defense Team Fights for Probation, CZ Says: Will Take Responsibility for Past Mistakes
In the end, Judge Jones rejected the US Department of Justice’s recommendation of a 36-month sentence and announced a four-month prison term for Zhao Changpeng. The US Probation Office will confirm the start date of Zhao Changpeng’s sentence, and Zhao Changpeng stated in court that he would accept any day as the start date of his sentence.
Compared to FTX founder SBF, Zhao Changpeng’s fate is clearly much better. SBF, who was accused of illegally using $8 billion of customer funds, was convicted of fraud in March this year and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Former US Securities and Exchange Commission official John Reed Stark commented that the four-month short imprisonment is only a small price for a billionaire like Zhao Changpeng.
Has Zhao Changpeng Already Started Planning for His Release?
With a four-month prison sentence, Zhao Changpeng’s life story may be just a small episode. Even before the verdict was announced, Zhao Changpeng had already begun establishing connections across the United States to plan his next move.
After admitting to money laundering in November 2023, Zhao Changpeng did not sit idly by. Although he cannot return to Dubai, Zhao Changpeng can still freely move around the United States, allowing him ample time to travel across the country, establish connections with local entrepreneurs, and lay the foundation for his next steps.
According to disclosed information, Zhao Changpeng had a casual dinner with a former US senator in Montana, visited the town of Telluride in Colorado, and a vacation resort in Utah. More importantly, Zhao Changpeng also had a meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Last month, Zhao Changpeng announced that he would launch a new project to promote online education. He also expressed interest in investing in artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Two informed sources stated that Zhao Changpeng exchanged contact information with Altman as early as the end of last year and discussed the adjustments involved in expanding startups globally.
The sources revealed that Zhao Changpeng had a meeting with Altman about a year ago, and they had contact again during the power struggle at OpenAI in November 2023. A month later, in December 2023, Zhao Changpeng had hot pot with Gu Ronghui, a computer science professor at Columbia University and co-founder of CertiK, a Web3 security company funded by Binance. Gu Ronghui confirmed in an interview that Zhao Changpeng had been in communication with Altman, and both believed that artificial intelligence would greatly contribute to technological and human knowledge development. Zhao Changpeng even revealed that he is currently “seeking opportunities” to invest in and support large-scale data centers for AI applications.
As of now, Zhao Changpeng and representatives from OpenAI have declined to comment on their meeting with Altman.
On the other hand, in a letter submitted to the court, Zhao Changpeng revealed that he has been in talks with some biotechnology startups in recent months and plans to focus on disease prevention as the next chapter of his life’s work. Zhao Changpeng stated, “I want to help fund small research labs with the aim of eradicating diseases once and for all and using blockchain technology to provide healthcare services to billions of people worldwide.”
In March this year, Zhao Changpeng announced on the X platform that he is launching a project called Giggle Academy, a free online learning platform for children. The Giggle Academy website has already released a seven-page “concept document” that mentions the involvement of artificial intelligence, automation, and NFT digital collectibles. It is reported that Giggle Academy is not for profit, and Zhao Changpeng is recruiting a small team to work directly with him. This means that once Zhao Changpeng is released from prison, he is likely to devote himself to this work and may even achieve it within a year.
Further Reading:
Binance Custody Assets Exceed $100 Billion, Secures 43% Market Share! CZ and Others Are Not Idle, Preparing to Launch a Mysterious New Project
How Did the Market React to Zhao Changpeng’s Four-Month Sentence?
During Zhao Changpeng’s hearing, BNB saw an increase and is currently maintaining around $580. As of the time of writing, it has narrowed down its 24-hour drop to 2.8%.
On the other hand, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance itself does not seem to have been affected by Zhao Changpeng’s trial. According to Coingecko data, at the time of writing this article, Binance is still the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a trading volume of over $23 billion in the past 24 hours, which is about 4.6 times the trading volume of the second-place Bybit at around $5 billion. In addition, Binance’s monthly website visits reached 101 million, about 2.5 times the 39.1 million visits to Bybit’s platform.
With the “shoe dropping” on the judgment, Zhao Changpeng’s case has finally come to an end. Perhaps due to a fondness for the number “4,” the four-month sentence seems to be a result that both Zhao Changpeng and the wider cryptocurrency community can accept, even a “good result.”
After the verdict was announced, Zhao Changpeng’s wife, He Yi, replied with just two words on social media: “Got it.” It seems that everyone understood.
This article is authorized for reprint from PANews.
