Crypto News: The wealthiest inmate

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

The wealthiest inmate

Changpeng Zhao speaks virtually during the Web3 Blockchain Festival in Hong Kong on April 12, 2023. Photographer: Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg

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Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao is going to prison — for a few months.

A Seattle judge sentenced him Tuesday to four months for violating anti-money laundering laws while CEO at the crypto exchange. Following today's ruling, he'll also enter the history books as the richest person ever to do time in US federal lockup, with an estimated $43 billion personal fortune tied to Binance.

That's a far cry from the fortunes of onetime bitter rival FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried. With CZ's ownership of Binance intact, friends on the board, and the mother of his children helping to run the show, his battle with the law is world's apart from the SBF blowout.

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A so-called "silver tsunami" of aging baby boomers in many parts of the world is presaging a slow-moving economic crisis. Today's Big Take podcast examines the impact on Australia's 32-year-old pension system, which experts see as a success story. Many Australians, however, worry they haven't saved enough. Host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg's Amy Bainbridge discuss what makes the pension plan so super — and why it's still falling short.

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