It was clear at the time of sentencing in April that Changpeng Zhao's four-month sentence was a slap on the wrist and that he would walk away with most of his assets intact. But the lucky thing for the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance is that by September, his $33 billion net worth will likely be double that amount.
Much of the extra profit was a result of Forbes research showing that Zhao's stake in the Binance-owned cryptocurrency BNBBNB 0.0% reached 94 million tokens, or 64% of the 147.5 million holdings. circulate. BNB has skyrocketed this year, nearly doubling to $596. BNB is credited to Zhao – widely known by his initials CZ – as his 90% ownership of Binance is divided into two parts: nearly 42 million is part of the 80 million allocated to the founding team founded in 2017 and over 52 million issued to the founding team in 2017. left the exchange as the initial coin offering of 100 million tokens attracted a buyout of less than 11 million tokens newspaper.
![](https://public.bnbstatic.com/image/pgc/202406/53a1111820877ed02e5020a02a31d927.png)
On paper, CZ’s BNB stake is worth $56 billion, but if that supply were to be sold all at once, it would almost certainly cause the price to fall. Valuing the tokens at half their market value would value them at $28 billion, and adding the $33 billion valuation of CZ’s stake in the Binance exchange would put his estimated fortune at around $61 billion. That would move him up from 50th to 24th on Forbes’ billionaires list.
He could still go higher. In the six months since Zhao pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and agreed to pay a $50 million fine, Binance has gained market share among cryptocurrency exchanges. The valuation of CZ’s 90% stake has not changed and could increase if the company’s results improve.
Full Story: How Crypto's Richest Billionaire Doubled His Net Worth Behind Bars
Trump Calls for US Monopoly on Bitcoin Mining
“We want all remaining Bitcoin MADE IN THE USA!!!,” Donald Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. The former president and presumptive Republican nominee, who has embraced cryptocurrency after years of skepticism, is using digital assets to score points with voters. Incumbent Joe Biden has been less enthusiastic about the space, although the Block reported that his re-election campaign may accept crypto donations.
Trump said bitcoin “could be our last line of defense against” a central bank digital currency (CBDC), reiterating his opposition to a so-called digital dollar issued by the Federal Reserve. The Fed has explored the concept but has not taken a position on whether it is a good idea. Trump has called CBDCs a “dangerous threat to liberty” and vowed to block their creation if re-elected.
Mining the remaining bitcoins in the U.S. would also make the country “the ENERGY INTELLIGENT WORLD,” Trump wrote. Bitcoin mining consumes a significant amount of energy, but it can be turned off during peak demand and regulated at other times, benefiting generators that add capacity at steady usage.
Meanwhile, bitcoin miner Core Scientific is on the rise as it repurposes some of its power-hungry hardware for high-performance computing (HPC) to power its artificial intelligence operations. Core has revealed new details about the 300 megawatts of HPC infrastructure it has in place, adding to the 200 megawatts it had committed to under its recent deal with AI hyperscaler CoreWeave. CoreWeave liked the company so much that it tried to buy it, offering $5.75 a share or $1 billion on June 3. Three days later, Core Scientific’s board rejected the offer, citing its undervaluation of the company, and the stock ended Friday at $10.33, up 33% for the week.
Some creditors unhappy with generous FTX bankruptcy settlement
The lawyers overseeing FTX’s bankruptcy have filed a reorganization plan that not only fully reimburses nearly all of the failed cryptocurrency exchange’s customers, but also gives them 18% interest for the period their investments are tied up. By typical bankruptcy standards, that’s a big deal. But not all creditors are jumping for joy.
One major issue is that former customers of the exchange are being offered full compensation for the dollar value of their crypto holdings at the time FTX files for bankruptcy protection in November 2022. Unfortunately, that’s near the nadir of digital asset values as an industry downturn is exacerbated by the company’s failure. Bankruptcies typically play out that way, but a range of creditors, commentators, and academics say customers have been wrongly stripped of their assets, and that’s not the only thing they’re upset about.
They also said that the current FTX management is not maximizing the value of the company, ignoring the best interests of former customers and other creditors. Periodic complaints have been filed against Sullivan & Cromwell, the main law firm representing FTX now and also advising the company on various pre-bankruptcy matters.