He may be headed to prison next year after pleading guilty to US criminal charges in November, yet 2023 held a silver lining for former Binance Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao: His estimated wealth ballooned by almost $25 billion this year.
Toward the end of a year when Bitcoin rebounded more than 160 per cent following a market collapse in 2022, Zhao tops a list of crypto entrepreneurs who saw their estimated net worth surge in 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Coinbase Global Inc. CEO Brian Armstrong and twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss also had billions of dollars restored to their fortunes.
“Investment in crypto is not for the faint of heart; you need to be prepared for the spectacular ups and downs,” said Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University who studies digital-asset markets. “There is a reason that these investors are billionaires, and it is not luck. They are not tempted to dump their holdings in down markets. They believe in the long-term opportunities this space offers.”
The growth in wealth for Zhao, who goes by his initials CZ, is more than five times the size of the $4.3 billion in fines that Binance agreed to pay to US authorities. His fortune, currently estimated at more than $37 billion, is derived from his controlling stake in Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, which he founded.
Even though Binance has lost some market share this year, the exchange has benefited from increases in trading volumes that accompanied the rebound in crypto markets. Zhao, who did not respond to a request for comment for this story, also owns some Bitcoin and Binance’s own coin, BNB, though those holdings aren’t included in the Billionaires Index.
In November, he and Binance pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering and US sanctions violations under a sweeping settlement with the US that allows the crypto exchange to continue operating. Zhao also agreed to personally pay a $50 million fine under the deal that required him to step down as CEO, but lets him retain his ownership stake in the exchange.
Zhao faces as many as 10 years in prison yet is expected to get no more than 18 months under a plea deal that appears to have saved him from the harsh penalties that other prominent crypto criminals have faced. The Justice Department hasn’t revealed yet what length of term it will seek.
In late November, a federal judge in Seattle ruled that Zhao can’t return to his home in the United Arab Emirates for now. Zhao’s sentencing is scheduled for February 23.
Zhao’s wealth is still a far cry from its peak of nearly $97 billion at the beginning of 2022, and it’s even down from its year-to-date high of $50.4 billion in July, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zhao isn’t the only billionaire who benefited from the crypto rebound in 2023, which was fueled in part by the Binance settlement that removed an overhang from the market, as well as by optimism that the US will finally approve exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin.
