- Chief Business Intelligence
- Chief Business Intelligence
Introduction: Changpeng Zhao has completely become a big fat on the chopping block of the United States.
Regarding the killing of pigs, the whole world is the same, and those who love to pick up fat come to kill.
On April 24, local time, after a total of individuals and companies were fined more than 50 billion yuan by the United States, Changpeng Zhao still failed to get out of prison and was directly sentenced to 36 months in prison, and the court is expected to pronounce the verdict on April 30.
Why is it a short-term result?
Because after 36 months, it may continue to be beaten on other charges, and the United States is now targeting Changpeng Zhao with a dry and clean knock on the bone and marrow.
Last year, he paid a fine of $4.3 billion, plus a personal fine of $150 million, and paid another $175 million to bail out, and then the Americans thought the money he earned was not legal, and now he is sent in again.
Who would have thought that the once richest man in China has now become a lamb to be slaughtered.
From the "nobody" to the "richest man in China".
Changpeng Zhao, a legendary figure in the field of digital currency, is a well-known bigwig in the currency circle.
In February 2018, Forbes magazine named him the "richest man in crypto" and commented on his "nuggets" speed: "In the craziest gold mine of last year, speed is the lifeline. Changpeng Zhao, a Chinese programmer, went from creating the Binance platform to becoming rich in just six months. ”
Changpeng Zhao began to dabble in cryptocurrency, starting with a game of cards.
In Shanghai in 2013, several middle-aged men sat around a table and were playing cards.
There is nothing abnormal in this deck, but Changpeng Zhao knows that this game is not for everyone.
Next to Changpeng Zhao sat Li Qiyuan, a veteran practitioner in the currency circle, who is the founder of China's first bitcoin exchange, "Bitcoin China".
Changpeng Zhao, who was 36 years old at the time, founded a financial technology start-up company, focusing on building a high-frequency trading system, quickly emerged in the industry, earned the first pot of gold in his life, and was an absolute young talent.
At that time, Bitcoin was still a new concept, and everyone didn't know what it was for and what it could do, but Changpeng Zhao smelled something different, and he felt that this was an opportunity.
It can be said that in this game, more than half of the players want to set up a set of this new outlet.
Just when Changpeng Zhao was clutching the cards in his hand and thinking about it, Li Qiyuan next to him came to talk, and his sentence "Bitcoin is the future" at the beginning made Changpeng Zhao stunned on the spot.
He claims that this virtual currency can be circulated all over the world, without worrying about exchange rates or inflation, and that it is very safe, has encryption technology, and has a promising future.
Changpeng Zhao was fascinated by what he heard, and since then, a seed has been planted in his heart.
After that, he gave up the company he started and chose to work as a part-time worker, and entered a company that tracks bitcoin transactions "Blockchain" as a technical leader, where Changpeng Zhao's understanding of virtual currencies became deeper and deeper, and gradually became the company's second-in-command.
Later, he joined the cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin and served as the company's chief technology officer, during which time Changpeng Zhao gradually became interested in virtual currencies.
In 2014, he made the astonishing decision to sell his property in Shanghai and spend $1 million on Bitcoin, gambling his entire net worth, which is now called an all-or-nothing gamble.
You know, at that time, real estate in Shanghai was still very popular, but I didn't expect that in less than a year, the price of bitcoin was cut in half, and the house price in Shanghai doubled, which was a big loss.
With such a striking method, someone else would have gone to the rooftop a long time ago, but I have to say that Changpeng Zhao is really a ruthless person, he is unwilling and wants to win it all back.
In 2017, the value of global digital currencies "soared", creating many myths of getting rich overnight, and Changpeng Zhao's heart was ready to move again.
This time, he didn't want to hide behind the table anymore, so in July 2017, he launched his own trading platform, Binance, in Shanghai.
Users can trade a variety of virtual currencies in this trading platform, which can then be reflected in US dollars or other currencies, and can help users perfectly avoid all national monetary systems, including the US dollar system.
Changpeng Zhao mainly charges a handling fee for each transaction, which is commonly known as sitting in the bank.
In just half a year, Binance has attracted 6 million users, after all, there is so much money from unknown sources in the world, and this kind of platform is so needed.
With the ability to make 1.4 million transactions per second, Binance quickly became the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, creating a new myth.
It's just that he didn't be happy for too long, and China issued an "expulsion order" to him, after all, virtual currency is not regulated, and it is easy to breed illegal phenomena, and if it is not solved early, there will be endless troubles.
So, with a paper ban, his Binance became an illegal institution.
Seeing that it was not possible in the domestic market, he left China with the server and the group and started a trip to "wander the earth".
When he came to Japan with his team, he didn't expect that Japan would also issue a ban three months later, and as China took the lead in banning cryptocurrencies, many countries began to ban it one after another.
Therefore, no matter which country Binance goes to, what is waiting for is a ban. As the world's largest virtual currency exchange, it is like a rat crossing the street, and everyone shouts and beats it.
Later, Changpeng Zhao simply left the headquarters and asked employees to go back to their homes and work directly online to maintain the normal operation of the company.
As he once said, "Where I sit, there's Binance's office." ”
Even if you don't have a fixed place, you still can't stop Binance's savage growth.
In 2021, Binance's daily trading volume reached $76 billion, which is equivalent to about 500 billion yuan.
Also at the end of this year, Changpeng Zhao became the richest Chinese man with a net worth of 94.1 billion US dollars, far surpassing Nongfu Spring's Zhong Sui and ranking among the top 10 richest people in the world.
At that time, many people had heard this name for the first time, and a virtual one had actually done a physical one, and the momentum of the name "Changpeng Zhao" reached its peak for a while.
It's just that he is in the middle of the day, and he is also being watched by the outside world.
After the freedom "went overboard", there were many crises
A moment of indulgence and a moment of coolness, freedom "over-the-fire" will cause trouble.
In March 2023, Changpeng Zhao was targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice. It filed a complaint against Binance and Changpeng Zhao, alleging that Changpeng Zhao's Binance platform violated U.S. sanctions.
Then, in June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had filed 13 charges against Binance and Changpeng Zhao.
But because the SEC couldn't find where Changpeng Zhao was, he couldn't even submit legal documents.
The SEC was later forced to ask the court for approval to pass the documents in an "alternative way", that is, to find Binance's lawyer to transfer them.
After receiving the lawsuit, Changpeng Zhao also directly showdown himself in the United Arab Emirates.
Zhao Changpeng, who blew up his whereabouts, the United States naturally would not let him go so easily, but because it is inconvenient to take coercive measures in the United Arab Emirates.
As a result, the United States added a new charge to him, which is not an ordinary economic crime, so this time the United States is clearly putting pressure on Changpeng Zhao.
In a dilemma, Changpeng Zhao knew that he had to come forward to settle the matter in person, so he sent a lawyer to negotiate with the United States, and in the face of the United States' proposal of "just paying a fine to settle things", he agreed without thinking about it.
After the United States signed the settlement agreement, Changpeng Zhao was stopped, and the United States tore up the agreement, did not admit it, and did not let him leave the United States.
At this time, Changpeng Zhao was completely confused.
In the original agreement, Changpeng Zhao's sentence would only be 12-18 months. And the latest court documents reveal that Changpeng Zhao needs to be sentenced to 36 months in prison.
It doesn't work if you pay the money, this prison disaster is a certainty.
But Changpeng Zhao also knew that he had no results in his hard work, so he could only sigh, once he set foot on American soil, he was in the situation of "man is a knife and I am a fish and meat".
His wife and son are still waiting abroad for him to return to the family, and Changpeng Zhao also published an open letter expressing his willingness to take all the responsibility. He also said that in the future, he hopes to focus on two things, investing in biotech startups and education.
I have to sigh, relying on courage and Dongfeng, I became the richest man, I got everything, I lost everything, and now even my freedom is restricted, and I can't see my wife and children.
Changpeng Zhao and his wife, the two have three children
But that's the reality, and the power of an individual can never compete with a boss of another level.
As for the final result, I can only ask for more blessings.
What is the United States trying to do?
The reason why the United States is chasing Changpeng Zhao and attacking hard is that money is not the most important, and the most important thing is that cryptocurrencies are too threatening to the financial hegemony of the United States.
You know, the United States is the country in the world that prints green money at will, no matter which country you are doing virtual currency, it will impact its system.
As we all know, the United States has been tightening its grip on the global financial system so that the dollar can flow unimpeded. However, after the advent of digital currency, there is a huge underground market, which is decentralized and encrypted, making the source and destination of the currency untraceable, so there is a blind spot, and the threat to the dollar is very great.
Therefore, of course, the United States will not sit idly by, and this is also the consistent style of the United States, and it will not let go even of its own people.
Bankman, the founder of FTX from the United States, has been sentenced to 25 years for securities fraud and other crimes, and the United States intends to fine him another $11 billion.
Watching him rise up a tall building, watching him feast guests, watching him collapse a building. What is virtual is empty after all, and nothing substantial will be produced.
As Warren Buffett once attacked cryptocurrency: "It is not a productive asset, its value depends on how much the next person pays the last person who owns the virtual currency." ”
What will be the fate of Changpeng Zhao next? What do you think about this? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss and express your opinions or opinions, thank you.
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