Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the former Binance CEO, has been moved to a new facility with 38 days left on his prison sentence.
According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), CZ is now listed as an inmate at the Residential Reentry Management (RRM) Long Beach field office, an administrative facility in the Greater Los Angeles area.
Until recently, he was cooling his heels at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California.
Why the sudden move? It’s anyone’s guess at this point. The authorities aren’t spilling the beans. What we do know is that CZ’s expected release date is September 29.
Last year, CZ was hit with a stack of criminal charges that could’ve sent anyone into a panic. The Department of Justice (DOJ) accused him of some heavy stuff—money laundering and breaking securities laws.
According to the DOJ, CZ and his team at Binance were busy trying to pull a fast one on U.S. regulators. They allegedly helped high-value U.S. customers keep trading on Binance, even though they weren’t supposed to, by hiding transactions.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also decided to pile on with civil lawsuits. While the SEC was mainly focused on the money, the DOJ’s criminal charges came with the threat of real jail time.
In November 2023, CZ finally cut a plea deal, admitting to some of the charges, including the money laundering accusations. The deal even had a little escape clause: if he got more than 18 months, he could appeal. But when the dust settled, the judge only gave him four months in prison.
A four-month sentence might sound like a vacation compared to what CZ could’ve faced. The guy was dealing with allegations involving billions of dollars—around $40 billion, to be exact.
For context, look at Sam Bankman-Fried, his peer, who got hit with a much harsher sentence for his role in the FTX fiasco. CZ, by contrast, seemed to get off easy.
On May 31st, CZ checked into the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc. It’s a medium-security prison, and compared to maximum-security places, it’s almost comfy—if you can call prison that.
Richard Teng took over for CZ after he stepped down as CEO of Binance, and has said recently that the founder will have no say in company operations when he gets out. For Richard, the goal is to make Binance stand on its own, without CZ.
