Who Is The Wealthiest Person To Ever Land In A US Prison? His Crypto Connections Might Surprise You

Over the years, several high-profile personalities have served prison time in U.S. jails, including football legend Orenthal James ‘O.J.' Simpson and Oscar-winning actor Robert Downey Jr. 

But do you know who's the richest prisoner ever to have spent time in a federal lockup? Hint: He is a blockchain entrepreneur who set up the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange that clocks billions of dollars worth of trading volume daily. 

You guessed it right! He is Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, who once helmed the cryptocurrency behemoth Binance BNB/USD.

What Happened: Earlier in April, CZ was sentenced to four months in prison for his failure to establish an effective anti-money laundering program at the exchange. The former Binance CEO began his sentence early in June.

At the time of his sentencing, he was the 34th richest person in the world, with a net worth exceeding $40 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Zhao’s fortune is derived from his controlling stake in Binance, estimated to be at 90%. 

At the time of writing, CZ's wealth has dwindled to $28.2 billion, pulling him down to rank 61 on the world's richest list. That said, he continues to be in the history books with the infamous tag of being the richest U.S. prisoner.

See Also: Bitcoin Miners Expand Capacity As Network Hashrate Hits New Record Despite Recent Price Drop

Why It Matters: As part of a settlement with U.S. authorities, CZ stepped down from his role at Binance last year, with the company agreeing to pay $4.3 billion in fines related to various regulatory enforcement actions. 

Following his departure, Richard Teng took over as CEO of Binance.

CZ's imprisonment was the latest in a rather disconcerting trend of successful cryptocurrency entrepreneurs facing the law over charges of financial fraud.   

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March. 

Additionally, Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, was found guilty of defrauding investors during the infamous collapse of the stablecoin TerraUSD UST/USD in April. 

Price Action: At the time of writing, BNB, the native token of the Binance ecosystem, traded at $520.32, down 1.34% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The fourth-largest cryptocurrency has grown 65% YTD despite legal troubles. 

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Photo courtesy: Flickr