Yi He sent a letter to the court in defense of Changpeng Zhao

IN letter for the judge Binance co-founder Yi He spoke about meeting Changpeng Zhao (CZ), as well as his goals and actions as CEO of the exchange.

Ideals

The top manager began by saying that she is CZ's partner and the mother of his three children. She met him in the spring of 2014 at a conference.

CZ later founded Binance, but his “ultimate goal was not money,” says the exchange’s co-founder.

He also talked about how they worked together at OKCoin. During another market downturn, one of the employees fell ill with leukemia, so his colleagues organized a fundraiser.

This subsequently inspired Zhao and He to create the Caring BTC charity project, which became the predecessor to Binance Charity.

According to the company's co-founder, in the early days of Binance, users often sent altcoins to the platform that it did not support and lost money. Although the exchange's policy implied personal responsibility for funds, CZ decided to help users.

“Do the right thing”

According to colleague Zhao, CZ's main motto in business is “do the right thing.” This also applied to cases of crime or fraud.

One day, one of the Chinese users reported to technical support that he was deceived into investing in a crypto project, and then the funds were stolen, which he sent to Binance.

Then the exchange, on Zhao’s advice, froze the suspicious transaction until law enforcement intervened, although it could not have done so. As a result, the scammer returned the money and closed the account, He shared.

Despite the media’s attempts to portray CZ as a villain, “millions of community members and ordinary people consider him a hero of the industry,” the top manager is sure. The ex-head of the exchange was also a “good boss,” helping colleagues in difficult situations.

Errors

To allow Binance to continue operating, CZ decided to fly to the United States and plead guilty, the exchange's co-founder emphasized.

He called herself CZ's “life partner.” She said he lives a simple life: he buys inexpensive clothes on Amazon, rides a scooter to meetings and drives a six-seat Toyota van.

According to the top manager, Zhao’s main mistake was “ignorance”:

With little experience and legal knowledge, the exchange's founder won the favor of users with “honesty, integrity and a sense of responsibility for the industry,” although he made mistakes, He said.

At the end of the letter, she urged the judge to make a fair decision after reading more complete information about the case and Zhao.

Prosecutors demanded 36 months in prison for the ex-CEO of Binance for violating anti-money laundering laws. The maximum term was 10 years.

Zhao himself apologized for “poor decisions” and accepted “full responsibility” for his actions in a brief to the court.

The meeting at which a preventive measure will be chosen for the founder of the exchange will take place on April 30.