Binance Co-Founder Changpeng Zhao's Fortune Plunged $12 Billion Since January As Regulatory Woes Bit

Binance Co-Founder Changpeng Zhao’s Fortune Plunged $12 Billion Since January As Regulatory Woes Bit

Updated: 27 October 2023

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Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao has seen his fortune slashed by $11.9 billion since January to $17.2 billion as the world’s biggest crypto exchange confronts an almost perfect storm of regulatory and legal troubles.

That’s according to an Oct. 26 report by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which also slashed its estimates of revenues at the world’s largest crypto exchange by 38% amid a slump in exchange volumes.

Zhao’s wealth has plunged by more than 80% from its $97 billion peak in January last year.

#Binance founder CZ’s fortune gets slashed $12B.

Zhao’s net worth is now a paltry $17.3 billion, registering an 82% drop from its $96.9 billion peak in January 2022, where he was ranked 11th among the world’s richest people.

Source: Cointelegraph#Bitcoin | #crypto | $BTC pic.twitter.com/6SRyC1jh5D

— Crypto News & Analysis (@coinsonx) October 27, 2023

Zhao’s ranking has thus slipped to the 95^th position among the world’s richest people.

Zhao worth — *Zhao’s net worth peaked at $96.9 billion in early 2022 before dropping alongside the crypto market. Source: Bloomberg*

The Index calculates the company’s revenue using spot and derivatives trading data from crypto-tracking services Coingecko and Coinpaprika.

Binance gained market share earlier this year, peaking at 62% of total on-exchange crypto trades in the first quarter, thanks to a zero-fee promotion for popular trading pairs. Once the offer elapsed, Binance’s share dropped to 51% at the end of the third quarter, according to research firm CCData, Bloomberg reported.

Binance Under Pressure From Regulators

The crypto platform has been in a tussle with regulators for much of this year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Zhao, Binance, and Binance US in June, alleging that the exchange shirked rules, including operating illegally, selling unregistered securities, and mishandling customer assets.

In March, the CTFC’s suit claimed Binance did not properly register with the regulator.

However, Binance disputes the allegations and is fighting them.

In June, Bloomberg’s wealth index slashed the value of Binance’s US exchange to zero after it announced it would no longer transact in dollars, shrinking volumes dramatically. Binance.US had been valued at $4.7 billion in a March 2022 funding round.

As of September, the exchange’s spot trading market share had fallen consecutively in seven months to 34.3%. In January, Binance’s spot market share was over 55%.