Ousted Binance CEO Shifts Focus After Jail Term

The deposed Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has completed his jail term and decided to focus on a new project, maintaining the agreement he had with the Justice Department after Binance pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4 billion due to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and failure to register as a money transmitting business.

As part of the judicial penalties and settlement deals with the US government, the Binance CEO was jailed for four months and left the United States federal prison on September 27 over money laundering violations. Through Binance, he had willfully allowed terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers to access money through its platform, failing in its legal obligations for financial gain, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said in November 2023.

At the moment, Zhao is worth approximately $60 billion. However, due to the agreement he had with the DoJ, he has been forced out of the leadership of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, a position he can no longer occupy despite being the founder.

Speaking shortly after returning from prison, Zhao, a Chinese Canadian national born in China in 1977, said he is going to focus on a new project as he was forced out of Binance’s management.

As it stands, Zhao will focus on Giggle Academy, a global online primary school. Earlier in May, Zhao said he would also focus on biotech startups that want to use blockchain technologies to cure diseases and provide medical access to billions of users globally.

While thanking everyone for their support, Zhao said Giggle Academy will be a part of his life for the next few years.

While there are some doubts about whether he will continue investing in blockchain technology, the founder said he would definitely support decentralized technology, AI, and biotech.

Giggle Academy will allow CZ to devote more time and funding to charity, especially education, while also working on launching his book.

Although not much is known about what the CEO is writing, there is no doubt that his experience in US prison will cover a section of the book.

Earlier, before Zhao was jailed, two Binance executives were apprehended in Nigeria after the country’s money laundering body accused Binance of colluding with terrorists and aiding looters in disrupting the economy.

However, one executive allegedly colluded with corrupt security forces to flee the country, leaving Binance’s head of financial compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, to face the charges alone, creating a dent in Binance’s image in the country that it was scared of facing judicial trail and knowingly committed the alleged offence in the country for financial gains.

While Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, is currently in custody, he has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded for release due to his deteriorating health condition.