Preface
On September 28, 2024, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) walked out of a halfway house in California, ended his four-month imprisonment, and officially regained his freedom. Zhao Changpeng, who refused to be interviewed after being released from prison, chose to post a GM (Good Morning) tweet on his personal X account. Is this a preview of his strong comeback?
The former head of the cryptocurrency exchange will now return to the cryptocurrency industry in a new capacity. Changpeng Zhao's release from prison is not only a turning point in his personal career, but also symbolizes an important milestone for the entire cryptocurrency industry.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ) career introduction
Looking at the life history of Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian-Chinese entrepreneur, it can be said to be full of legend. The author specially excerpts some of his important milestones below:
1977: Zhao Changpeng was born in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province.
1989: 12-year-old Zhao Changpeng immigrated to Canada with his family and began his overseas life.
2005: After working in New York for several years, Changpeng Zhao moved to Shanghai to start his entrepreneurial journey.
July 2017: Co-founded Binance with He Yi and others and served as CEO. As a co-founder, He Yi played an important role in the development of Binance.
2017-2023: Under Changpeng Zhao’s leadership, Binance quickly grew into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and had a huge influence on the industry.
November 2023: Changpeng Zhao resigns as Binance CEO for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and agrees to pay a $50 million fine.
April 2024: Changpeng Zhao is sentenced to 4 months in prison by a U.S. federal court.
September 28, 2024: Changpeng Zhao ends his imprisonment and regains his freedom.
During this ups and downs of his career, Zhao Changpeng's family has always been his strong support. Although Zhao Changpeng rarely talks publicly about his private life, according to other news clips and interviews, it is not difficult to find that his wife has always supported his career. However, there have been rumors about Zhao Changpeng's ex-wife on the Internet, but these messages have not been officially confirmed. While Zhao Changpeng was in prison, the support of his family undoubtedly gave him a lot of strength.
Changpeng Zhao’s story not only reflects his personal struggle, but also reflects the development trajectory of the entire cryptocurrency industry. From an ordinary coder to the founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, to being imprisoned due to compliance issues, Zhao Changpeng's experience can be called a microcosm of the cryptocurrency industry. How Changpeng Zhao, who has now regained his freedom, will return to the industry he once dominated is undoubtedly one of the most concerning topics in the entire cryptocurrency community.
From Binance representative to industry spiritual mentor
Over the past seven years, Changpeng Zhao, as the founder and CEO of Binance, has led Binance to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. However, with his release from prison, Zhao Changpeng's role will undergo a major change. He will no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations of Binance, but will transform into a spiritual mentor and educator for the entire cryptocurrency industry.
It is currently speculated that Changpeng Zhao's future focus will be on the field of education. Before he was imprisoned, he announced on his democratize users and applications, thereby increasing adoption across the industry.
Only through education can more people understand and accept cryptocurrency, thereby promoting the long-term development of the entire industry. This decision not only reflects Zhao Changpeng’s deep insight and care for the industry, but also represents his firm belief in the future of cryptocurrency.
How the Cryptocurrency Market Changed While CZ Was in Prison
In the short four months since Changpeng Zhao was imprisoned, the cryptocurrency market has experienced a lot of changes. Here are some important developments to watch:
Total market value growth: In the first half of 2024, the total cryptocurrency market value increased from US$1.65 trillion at the beginning of the year to US$2.27 trillion. After experiencing consolidation and decline in the second and third quarters, it once fell below the total market value of 2T. , is now slowly rising back to the 2.5T level, symbolizing the overall recovery of the market.
Bitcoin Dominance Continues to Increase: Bitcoin’s market dominance continues to rise and now exceeds 57%. This partly reflects investors' tendency to choose relatively safe assets when market uncertainty increased in Q2 and Q3 in the past.
Changes in the stablecoin market: The stablecoin market has seen a significant recovery, with the market value reaching a level of about $172 billion, a new high in the past two years. Tether (USDT) continues to maintain its dominant position, but USDC, with the support of the MiCA Act, has occupied the legal pricing power of the entire EU market and has become another strong force.
Memes continue: Meme coins continue to be the main theme in these two quarters, including the Trump shooting incident, Neiro capitalization, PumpFun revenue increase, the meme craze on the TRX chain, and the recent Mars City, Hippo, etc., these are all The meme highlights of the month also show that memes are still one of the tracks that cannot be underestimated in this market cycle.
In addition, there are institutionalization driven by the passage of Ethereum spot ETFs, the panic caused by Jump Crypto’s clearing of doubts a few months ago, and the decline in global assets caused by the yen carry trade in August. There is also the controversy over the overall harm caused by VC Token to the industry, which has also been a key topic that has been discussed in the past few months.
These changes not only reflect the phased direction of the cryptocurrency market, but also provide direction for Changpeng Zhao’s work focus after returning to the industry. As a spiritual mentor in the industry, he needs to deeply understand these emerging trends and help more people realize the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Binance’s independent development
With the departure of Changpeng Zhao, Binance has proven its ability to operate independently. Under the leadership of new CEO Richard Teng (and co-founder He Yi), Binance is moving forward steadily. Richard Teng has more than 30 years of financial services and regulatory experience, including 13 years with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. An experienced professional manager. Such a deep background undoubtedly brings great advantages to Binance in terms of compliance.
Judging from intuitive data, Binance has already fully embraced regulation and currently has regulatory licenses from 19 countries and regions around the world, which is the most in the entire cryptocurrency industry. In addition to showing Binance’s compliance efforts, it also sets a benchmark for the entire industry. Recently, Binance also completed compliance registration in India and became a regulated virtual digital asset infrastructure provider in the country, further expanding Binance’s global influence.
Binance’s subsidiary in Dubai, Binance FZE, has also obtained a formal virtual asset service provider (VASP) operating license, which shows that Binance has made a major breakthrough in its business development in the Middle East. These achievements not only prove that Binance still maintains strong development momentum after Changpeng Zhao’s departure, but also show the company’s determination to promote compliance on a global scale.
Changpeng Zhao and the future of Binance
Although Changpeng Zhao is no longer directly involved in Binance’s daily operations, as Binance’s largest shareholder, he still has a say in Binance’s major decisions within the allowed scope. This will undoubtedly make many new and old Binance users feel at ease. When Changpeng Zhao left the company, he also stated that he would continue to pay attention to the overall development of Binance and provide advice and support when necessary.
Binance did not stop innovating after Changpeng Zhao left. For example, Solana Blinks launched by Binance allows users to trigger on-chain operations anywhere a link can be shared. Or list EURI that is compliant under the MiCA Act, and launch a pre-market trading function to promote better and fair circulation of new currency chips. These innovations and efforts not only improve user experience, but also open up new avenues and fields for blockchain technology, compliance and fairness.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ)’s outlook on the industry
Since Changpeng Zhao was released from prison, the cryptocurrency community has been anticipating his public remarks. Many are hoping to hear his thoughts on the current market situation, as well as his outlook for the future. At present, except for a GM (Good Morning) tweet that is most familiar to currency circles, no more new comments have appeared during the writing of this article.
As an industry indicator, Changpeng Zhao has always maintained a high level of activity on social media and has millions of followers. His speeches often trigger extensive discussions inside and outside the industry, and even influence market trends. Therefore, his public statements will undoubtedly become the focus of attention of the entire cryptocurrency community.
Many are speculating about his views on the future of the cryptocurrency industry. Although he has not publicly expressed his stance on more situations, based on his past remarks and actions, as well as current market development trends, the author speculates that he may pay attention to the following aspects:
Compliance: Changpeng Zhao has always emphasized the importance of compliance. He is likely to be more aggressive in pushing the industry toward compliance, especially amid an increasingly stringent global regulatory environment.
Education: As he said, education will be the focus of his future work. We can look forward to seeing his specific actions and contributions in this regard, which may include setting up large-scale online courses, holding high-quality seminars, etc.
Institutional adoption: As more and more institutional investors enter the cryptocurrency market, Changpeng Zhao may discuss how to promote institutional adoption and how to establish a more mature and stable market environment, further strengthening the significance of compliance.
Emerging markets: Considering the potential of cryptocurrencies in emerging markets, especially in payments and inclusive finance, Changpeng Zhao may explore how to promote the application and popularity of cryptocurrencies in these regions. This direction can also be inferred from the recent research article published by Binance Research on the true value of blockchain and Binance payments.
FAQ
1. Who is the boss of Binance?
Changpeng Zhao (CZ) used to be the founder and former CEO of Binance. He founded Binance in 2017 and grew it into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Now Richard Teng will serve as Binance’s CEO from November 2023.
2. What crime did Zhao Changpeng commit? Why was he imprisoned?
Changpeng Zhao was indicted for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Simply put, the anti-money laundering controls he established at Binance did not meet the standards set by the U.S. government. Changpeng Zhao later pleaded guilty and agreed to resign as CEO, and was sentenced to four months in prison.
3.Who is Zhao Changpeng’s wife?
Changpeng Zhao’s wife is He Yi, who is also the co-founder of Binance.
4. Which country is Zhao Changpeng from?
Canadian. Changpeng Zhao was born in Jiangsu Province, China. His parents immigrated to Canada when he was 12 years old and eventually obtained Canadian citizenship.
5. Zhao Changpeng has an ex-wife?
None of the news about his ex-wife has been officially confirmed or denied. Zhao Changpeng himself has never publicly discussed this topic.
6. How much was Binance fined?
In November 2023, Binance agreed to pay a total of $4.3 billion in fines to resolve investigations into it by multiple U.S. regulatory agencies. This fine is divided into two parts:
$3.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
$637.5 million paid to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Additionally, Changpeng Zhao personally agreed to pay a $50 million fine as part of the settlement.
in conclusion
With the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by two cents in September, the market also reflected this good news with a strong rebound, bidding farewell to the decline in Q2 and Q3. Combined with Changpeng Zhao’s release from prison, it also represents a new chapter for Binance and the entire cryptocurrency industry. From the helm of Binance to the spiritual mentor of the industry, Changpeng Zhao’s role change will undoubtedly bring new opportunities and challenges to this rapidly growing industry. After his brief incarceration, Changpeng Zhao may be looking at the industry he once dominated from a new perspective.
The author himself is very much looking forward to seeing how he uses his experience and influence to continue to promote the development and popularization of the cryptocurrency industry. At the same time, we will also pay close attention to his interpretation of current market trends and his predictions for the future of the industry. What is certain is that Changpeng Zhao’s return will inject new energy and ideas into this dynamic industry.
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