Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was released from custody on Sept. 27. Following his release, both Bitcoin and Binance’s BNB token experienced a slight decline in price since the start of the trading day. Forbes highlighted that Zhao owns 64% of the total BNB supply, which put his net worth at approximately $61 billion in June. 2024, making him the 24th richest person in the world at that time.
His significant ownership of Binance’s native currency raised concerns about the token’s centralization after the report’s release. As of today, Zhao’s 94 million BNB tokens are worth about $57 billion, a sharp decline from their peak of over $700 in June 2024.
BNB price surge following Binance settlement
Gray Wolf Analytics and Forbes found that the original Binance team received an initial allocation of 80 million BNB tokens, and the company still retains around 46 million of them. Furthermore, in 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges against Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao “CZ“, claiming that he broke the Bank Secrecy Act.
The regulators outlined their concerns in a collaborative statement from various agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
While Binance is not a publicly traded company, Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and news related to Zhao and Binance’s criminal and civil liability is likely to significantly affect the trading of various cryptocurrencies.
This prediction turned out to be spot on. On Nov. 21, BNB’s price jumped about 7% within 24 hours after news broke about a $4 billion settlement between Binance and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC settlement hit Binance hard, costing them a hefty $4.3 billion. Zhao also faced a $50 million fine as part of the deal.
Additionally, the DOJ mandated that Binance undergo independent monitoring for the next three years, appointing the Forensic Risk Alliance to oversee the company’s operations.
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