US Court: 4-Month Prison Sentence for Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange Founder

A verdict was issued on Tuesday to sentence Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange platform, to four months in federal prison, after he and the company admitted to charges of money laundering in an agreement reached with prosecutors.

As a result of his admission of guilt, Binance settled fines of around $3-4 billion and Zhao himself settled for $50 million. The fines are unlikely to cause a dent in his finances, as he ranked 42nd on Bloomberg's billionaire index for financial services today, Wednesday, with a fortune of $36 billion, primarily composed of his stake in Binance.

Changpeng Zhao is likely to become the wealthiest inmate in an American prison.

Zhao, 47, stepped down from all his positions within the company as part of the agreement he struck with the Western District of Washington, a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, in Seattle.

The timing of the commencement of Zhao's prison sentence has not been clarified initially. Judge Richard Jones recommended his imprisonment in the Seattle area.

Jones acknowledged that Zhao voluntarily came to the United States despite the risk of facing punishment and cooperated with investigators. Zhao, who hails from China, moved to Canada with his family in his youth and holds Canadian citizenship.