The wealth of Changping Zhao, founder of the Binance platform, has increased since he was convicted and imprisoned in the United States of America, according to the American Forbes magazine website.
Forbes estimates that his wealth has reached about $61 billion, making him the 24th richest person in the world. The second richest person in the field of cryptocurrencies is Brian Armstrong, founder of Coinbase, with a value of $11 billion.
Chang’s fortune
The increase in Zhang’s wealth came due to the increase in the value of his 90% stake in the Binance cryptocurrency exchange to $33 billion, despite his stepping down in November 2023 from his position as its CEO as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice in which he pleaded guilty to charges. Related to money laundering and violations of international US sanctions.
Binance paid a fine of $4.3 billion to the US government. However, the impact on Zhang’s personal wealth was less severe, as only $50 million fell on him.
According to Forbes, Binance’s dominance has increased in the six months since Zhang’s guilty plea among cryptocurrency exchanges around the world in terms of trading volume.
According to data collected from “The Block” cryptocurrency platform, Binance’s share of trading in these currencies increased to 42% of total trades, an increase of 4% over the two months prior to the company’s settlement with the Ministry of Justice.
BNP’s wealth
The big change in Zhang’s net worth also appeared after Forbes revealed his holdings of the “BNB” currency issued by Binance, as he owns 94 million units of this currency, or 64% of the total 147.5 million coins in circulation.
Forbes estimates that Binance owns 71% of the BNP supply.
Despite the legal problems facing the Binance Stock Exchange, the BNP currency rose 100% in 2024, surpassing many other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which rose 54%, Ethereum, which rose 53%, and Solana, which rose 49%.
BNB recently reached an all-time high of $714, giving it a market value of $110 billion.
