Changpeng Zhao, or CZ as most people know him, isn’t getting out of prison on August 30. Instead, his release date is September 29. He’s currently at Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc II, a low-security federal prison three hours north of Los Angeles.
This week, some Binance fans on X (formerly Twitter) got excited, thinking CZ was set to leave prison at the end of August. But they’re wrong. A quick fact-check shows that he won’t be free by that date.
Back on April 30, CZ was sentenced by US District Judge Richard Jones to four months in prison. The judge suggested Seatac, a federal detention center in Seattle.
Some people thought CZ went straight to Seatac that day. If he had, he would be out on August 30. But his lawyers worked hard to get him some extra time outside. He didn’t start his sentence right away.
CZ’s legal team, from top firms like Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Davis Wright Tremaine, and Latham & Watkins, managed to delay the start of his sentence. This is why CZ will have to stay in prison until September 29.
Last year, Binance and CZ pleaded guilty to money laundering and agreed to a hefty $4.3 billion settlement. This led to him stepping down as CEO.
Before that, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance’s US arm. They charged Binance Holdings Ltd., BAM Trading Services Inc., and CZ with breaking securities laws.
The charges included running unregistered exchanges and lying about trading controls. Because of these regulatory problems, Binance had to limit its services in places like the United States and the United Kingdom. This affected its global market share and user base.
