The community and industry have reacted strongly to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) being sentenced to four months in prison.
CZ himself thanked everyone for their “care and support.”
I would like to thank everyone for your care and support, be it writing letters, showing support on X, or in any other form. They all mean a lot to me and keep me strong. I will do my time, conclude this phase and focus on the next chapter of my life (education).
I will remain a…
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) May 1, 2024
Former Binance chief strategy officer Patrick Hillman noted that he witnessed Zhao “rebuild the entire leadership team” in 2021 to prepare the company for global regulation.
I witnessed first hand as @cz_binance rebuilt the executive team around him in 2021 to prepare Binance to be regulated at the global level. I believe Judge Jones handed down a just sentence given the gravity of both CZ's missteps and his attempts to correct past mistakes.
— Patrick Hillmann (@PRHillmann) April 30, 2024
Prosecutors had sought a harsher sentence of 36 months in prison. During the hearing, CZ apologized and expressed his willingness to accept full responsibility. Previously, he had expressed remorse for his “bad decisions” in a letter to the judge.
The founder and CEO of the analytics company CryptoQuant, Ki Yoon Joo, acknowledged that the ex-CEO of Binance “advanced” the crypto industry by helping to create convenient products and making cryptocurrency purchases more accessible and secure.
Kennyhertz Perry law firm partner and former US federal prosecutor Braden Perry comments The Block called Zhao's verdict an important precedent:
However, some were not enthusiastic about the situation. Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher named the verdict was a “flagrant miscarriage of justice.”
He added that the judge was “backed into a corner” because the Ministry of Justice accused Zhao not of money laundering, but of creating a poor infrastructure to combat money laundering.
Swan Bitcoin Managing Director Terrence Young also noted that he was surprised by the short deadline for Zhao. In his opinion, the authorities simply did not have enough evidence.
Sam Mangel, a consultant in federal prison, added that the founder of Binance will serve the entire 120 days in prison without any concessions.
Source: Cryptocurrency
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