As the founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), is about to be released after serving his sentence, the currency circle has set off a debate about Changpeng Zhao’s merits and demerits. Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, believes that Changpeng Zhao’s merits far outweigh his faults and deserves respect; but BlockTower Capital founder Ari Paul criticized that Changpeng Zhao and FTX founder SBF committed the same crime and could be sentenced to life imprisonment. After Binance reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other agencies in November last year, pleading guilty and agreeing to pay a $4.3 billion fine, founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also admitted to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and other charges. Resigned as CEO of Binance and paid a $175 million fine.
In May this year, the U.S. District Court in Seattle sentenced Zhao Changpeng to four months in prison. Zhao Changpeng is still serving his sentence. However, according to the website of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, Zhao Changpeng has been transferred to the Long Beach Residential Reentry Management Office in central California and is expected to Released on September 29.
CryptoQuant CEO praises: CZ’s merits far outweigh its faults
As Changpeng Zhao is about to regain his freedom, the currency circle has set off a debate about Changpeng Zhao's merits and demerits. Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, tweeted that Changpeng Zhao should not be underestimated and deserves respect.
Ki Young Ju explains that when the intrinsic value of an industry is lower than the capital it absorbs, society often considers it a sin. In this case, the ones who are labeled as sinners are those who established and participated in the industry. People, society singles out its most influential figures as culprits, holding them responsible for the industry's failure to thrive:
While many made mistakes, only a few atoned for the sins of this industry. From the perspective of a mature society, the cryptocurrency industry is burdened with many sins. It has absorbed huge amounts of capital, but its intrinsic value has not grown accordingly. Like other young and immature industries, crime is rampant as it grows. One of the troubles.
Ki Young Ju emphasized that although Changpeng Zhao did make mistakes, his detention was also vicarious and represented the growing pains of the cryptocurrency industry:
Zhao Changpeng is a respectable businessman. Without Binance, the cryptocurrency industry would not have attracted the massive global liquidity it has today.
It is crucial to clearly distinguish his strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion, Zhao Changpeng's achievements far outweigh his mistakes. He has paid his fine, his detention is coming to an end and the industry should start looking at him in a new light.
The founder of BlockTower Capital has comments
However, Ari Paul, the founder of BlockTower Capital, disagreed with Ki Young Ju’s statement. He said that Changpeng Zhao committed the same crime as FTX founder SBF. If the federal government is willing, Changpeng Zhao can be sentenced to life imprisonment:
Zhao Changpeng stole customer deposits and gambled. He was convicted of dozens of crimes and defrauded retail investors in dozens of ways. He knowingly laundered money for a criminal group and facilitated worse behavior. Why is this the only accusation against him?
Because the federal government is worried that he will make off with more than $30 billion in retail funds by bribing the United Arab Emirates to obtain sovereign immunity, and the federal government wants a large number of Binance files that can incriminate the industry.
To support his point, Ari Paul shared a Reuters report stating that Changpeng Zhao obtained approximately $11 billion in client assets through trading firms. Ki Young Ju responded that the relevant reports had no definite evidence and were just indirect suspicions. The U.S. Department of Justice did not accuse Changpeng Zhao of misappropriating client funds, but instead accused him of abetting money laundering:
If Changpeng Zhao is indeed the criminal you imply, the authorities will not release him even if a deal is made as you mentioned.
In addition, some netizens refuted Ari Paul's statement, pointing out that Zhao Changpeng is already a billionaire. It is illogical if he still chooses to steal 30 billion U.S. dollars and become a hostage of a small country.
Note: Binance also has customers in the United Arab Emirates, and theft will also face legal sanctions in the United Arab Emirates.
