Binance Founder’s Fortune Ballooned by $25 Billion in 2023

Despite a turbulent year for his company, Binance’s founder is ending 2023 $25 billion richer.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s net worth is now an estimated $37 billion, putting him in the company of a number of high-profile cryptocurrency figures whose fortunes surged this year, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday (Dec. 26).

“Investment in crypto is not for the faint of heart; you need to be prepared for the spectacular ups and downs,” Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University who studies digital-asset markets, told Bloomberg. “There is a reason that these investors are billionaires, and it is not luck. They are not tempted to dump their holdings in down markets. They believe in the long-term opportunities this space offers.”

As Bloomberg reported, Zhao’s accumulated wealth for the year is more than five times the amount his company paid in fines to U.S. regulators this year. His fortune comes from this controlling stake in Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world. It is also considerably lower than it was last year, when it was estimated at $97 billion, the Bloomberg report said.

The company has benefited from an increase in trading that came as the cryptocurrency market rebounded this year.

However, Binance saw its share of troubles this year as well, with the Securities and Exchange Commission suing the company in June.

And last month, Zhao and the company pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering and U.S. sanctions violations as part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. government. As part of that agreement, Zhao agreed to pay a $50 million fine and step down as chief executive, though he still maintains an ownership stake in the exchange.

Zhao is scheduled to be sentenced in February, and could get up to 18 months in prison, though the Justice Department could seek a more severe jail term.

Last month, a federal judge ordered Zhao to remain in the U.S. after prosecutors argued his vast fortune and residency in the United Arab Emirates makes him a flight risk.

The Bloomberg report includes a list of other crypto entrepreneurs who saw their wealth increase this year. 

Among them is Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (whose fortune grew by $5.8 billion to $7.2 billion), Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam ($1.8 billion in 2023 to roughly $2.5 billion) and Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss ($1.4 billion growth to reach $2.7 billion).

Like Binance, both companies have spent the year battling with regulators.