Markets
How Crypto’s Richest Billionaire Doubled His Net Worth Behind Bars

The founder of Binance, known to crypto followers as CZ, is spending the summer at the minimum-security Lompoc prison in Santa Barbara. As crypto markets soar, Forbes reveals the secret source of its growing billions.
Per Javier PazForbes team and Steven ErlichForbes Team
Prison has been good for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Already the richest person to go behind bars and often the richest person in crypto, Zhao’s net worth has skyrocketed since he became a criminal.
Forbes now estimates he’s worth $61 billion, making him 24thh richest person in the world, right after Julia Koch and family. The next richest person in crypto is Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong with $11 billion.
CZ’s upward review has two components. First, his 90% equity stake in Binance, the major cryptocurrency exchange, is valued at $33 billion, despite CZ stepping down as CEO in November 2023 as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice. in which he pleaded guilty to combating money laundering. and sanctions violations. His company also paid a $4.3 billion fine to the government. However, the impact on Zhao’s personal wealth was less severe, as he only had to pay a $50 million fine. In the six months since its appeal, Binance has actually increased its dominance among cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide in terms of trading volume (although it has been excluded from the Forbes List of Most Trusted Cryptocurrency Exchanges.) According to data compiled from The Block, his share of the total spot market on exchanges has increased to 42% in the six months since he left the company, from an average of 38% in the two months before its liquidation.
BNB VERSUS BITCOIN AND ETHEREUM
Accumulated performance in the year 2024
The big change in CZ’s net worth comes from Forbes’ discovery of his personal holdings in his exchange-issued BNB token, which we estimate to be 94 million tokens or 64% of the total 147.5 million BNB tokens in circulation. Forbes estimates that Binance holds 71% of the BNB supply.
Despite the exchange’s legal troubles, BNB is on the rise in 2024, rising 100%, far outpacing other major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (up 54%), ether (up 53%), and solana (up 49%) . BNB recently reached an all-time high of $714, giving it a market capitalization of $110 billion.
What is BNB? Binance coin or BNB was initially launched in 2017 as a fundraising tool for CZ to launch its new exchange. Tokens like BNB are created by the developers running the crypto projects and are similar to airline mile loyalty points than actual shares in a company, although they are traded on crypto exchanges like stocks and are sought after by investors. Tokens like BNB do not offer ownership, but rather reward holders, who are often customers, with discounts for trading or as an incentive to recruit new account holders. They are often used, in the words of a former FTX insider whose company’s FTT exchange token led to its dramatic fall, as a “form of equity because there is no public capital.” The Securities and Exchange Commission appears to agree, as it is currently suing Binance for selling BNB to US customers as an unregistered security.
Changpeng Zhao, 47, accumulated his BNB stash in two ways. Binance was created in 2017, and he and the founding team received 80 million tokens out of a total supply of 200 million BNB. Forbes’ forensic analysis of the wallets that received these tokens, carried out in conjunction with Gray Wolf Analytics, indicates that the company holds 46.2 million of the original 80 million tokens. CZ is credited with 41.6 million BNB of this value due to his 90% ownership in Binance.
The second component of CZ’s wealth is more obscure. The results of an investigation published by Forbes and conducted with Gray Wolf in October 2023 revealed that the Binance ICO was initially undersubscribed, which led CZ and his company to funnel unsold shares into wallets he controlled. In 2017, Binance said it sold 100 million BNB for $0.15 each, raising a total of $15 million. Our analysis last fall showed that no more than 10.8 million BNB were sold, netting less than $5 million.
OWNERSHIP OF BNB BY BINANCE
Current BNB supply: 147.5 million
In its official white paper, which functions in the cryptocurrency world as a pseudo prospectus for ICO investors, Binance did not disclose what would happen to any unsold tokens. Ultimately, forensics shows that they were placed in wallets owned by Binance. Today, we estimate that these wallets hold 58 million BNB, worth $35 billion at the current price of $602. CZ’s 90% ownership of Binance would give him just over 52 million additional BNB. In total, we believe he holds almost 94 million BNB tokens. Lawyers for Binance and CZ did not respond to our requests for comment on CZ’s holdings.
The value of the Binance founder’s holdings would be $56.6 billion today, but given that there is little chance Zhao would get anywhere near that value if he tried to sell, Forbes applied a 50% liquidity discount to his holding. Currently, BNB trading volume is around $1.6 billion worth of tokens per day.
Despite claiming to have 200 million customers worldwide, very little is known about the inner workings of Binance – it has never been audited – and over 53% of all BNB trades take place on the Binance exchange itself. Over the last month, BNB has gained about 5%, which on paper equates to about $3 billion in gains for the Binance founder. So as Zhao serves his four-month sentence, soaking up the California sunshine in the courtyard of the Lompoc II federal correctional center, he watches his billions of BNB grow.
MORE FROM FORBES
ForbesThe World’s Most Trusted Crypto Exchanges and MarketsBy Javier PazForbesThis crypto-billion dollar fund could raise more than $1 billion from FTX’s bankruptcyBy Nina BambyshevaForbes’Elon doesn’t care about Tesla anymore’: Musk’s biggest fans are turning against himBy Alan OhnsmanForbesDesperate for Energy, AI Companies Seek the Nuclear OptionBy Alan Ohnsman
Markets
Crypto Markets Rebound as Spot Bitcoin ETFs Attract Massive Inflows

This week saw $722 million worth of Bitcoin spot ETF inflows, including the largest daily inflow in a month.
Cryptocurrency markets rallied on Wednesday, driven by inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is up 3% over the past 24 hours to last change hands at $65,200, according to CoinGecko. Ethereum (ETH) is up 2% and is trading at $3,471. Solana (SUN) and Polkadot (POINT) increased by 4%.
Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $422 million in daily inflows on Tuesday, the highest in the past 30 days, according to Far side data, . The all-time record for a single day was $1.05 billion on March 12.
Among Tuesday’s top contributors, BlackRock’s IBIT led with $260 million in inflows, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $61 million. This week has already seen more than $722 million in inflows.
Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Worldcoin (WLD) led with a 28% increase, followed by Helium (HNT) with 20% and Lido DAO (LDO) with 15%.
Worldcoin, a decentralized identity project led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced is extending the lockups for early investors and team members. This means that tokens will be gradually released through 2029, instead of the original 2027 plan. Token unlocks are generally seen as a negative because they increase supply and early investors can sell their tokens for profit.
Meanwhile, XRP, the token of the XRP Ledger network, jumped 8% after the CME and CF benchmarks introduced new indices and reference rates for XRP.
U.S. stocks faced a downturn on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell 2%.
Markets
Altcoins on the cusp of a major breakout – WLD, AR, and INJ prices could surge by 20% in the coming days

Crypto markets appear to have been taken over by the bulls as major tokens have surged above their crucial resistance zone. Bitcoin surged above $65,000 while Ethereum was above $3,500, and XRP, which had remained passive for quite some time, surged over 40% in the past few days to hit $0.6. The uptrend has been captured in most altcoins, with Worldcoin (WLD), Arweave (AR), and Injective (INJ) leading the rally. Here’s what to expect for these tokens in the coming days.
Worldcoin (WLD) Price Analysis
O Worldcoin Price has been trading inside a descending wedge since it marked a new ATH near $12 in the final days of Q1 2024. The recent price action helped the price break out of the upper resistance of the wedge, breaking above the crucial resistance zone between $2.21 and $2.39. Market sentiments have changed, but technicals suggest that the bulls may remain passive for a while, which could offer some room for a bearish pullback.
The price broke out of the wedge with a significant increase in volume, but the current volume suggests that the bulls have taken a step back. Meanwhile, the RSI is about to reach the upper boundary, which could attract bearish forces. Additionally, the DMI has undergone a bullish crossover, but the decline in the ADX suggests that the rally may remain consolidated above the gains. Therefore, the WLD price is expected to maintain a horizontal consolidation between $3 and $3.3 and trigger a fresh rally to $4.4 during the next bullish rally.
Arweave (AR) Price Analysis
Arweave formed a strong base around $25, which helped the rally trigger a recovery during the bearish attack. Mt. Gox and German terror forced the price to fall below $20. However, the recent price action has brought the altcoin within the bullish range and raised expectations of maintaining a decent uptrend for a few more days.
AR price has hit one of the major resistances around $30 to $31.5, which could act as a strong base once overcome. The buying volume is slowly increasing, which could keep the bullish hopes for the rally high. Moreover, the supertrend has just flashed a buy signal, indicating a clean reversal of the trend. Therefore, AR price seems primed to maintain a healthy uptrend and rally above $40. However, if the bulls maintain a similar trend, making new highs above $50 may not be a tedious task for the bulls.
Price Analysis of Injective (INJ)
Injective price has been showing sharp strength since the beginning of the year and hence, the recent turnaround is expected to revive a good uptrend going forward. The bears engulfed the rally to a large extent, but the recent price action suggests that the bulls have regained their dominance. Therefore, INJ price is expected to maintain a strong uptrend with a bearish interference on the way down.
INJ price has surged above the lower support zone and has registered consecutive bullish candles. Although the volume is below the required levels, the OBV is maintaining a sharp uptrend. Furthermore, the Ichimoku cloud lead span B is heading towards the lead span A and a healthy crossover indicates the start of a new uptrend. However, INJ price may be out of the bears’ reach once it secures the resistance zone between $30.77 and $32.12, which seems to be on the horizon.
Markets
Ethereum at $3.5K, Exchange Supply Hits 34-Month High

Ethereum (ETH) supply on exchanges has hit a 34-month high as the asset’s price surpassed the $3,500 mark.
ETH has risen 2.3% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $3,490 at the time of writing. The second-largest cryptocurrency — with a market cap of $419 billion — briefly touched an intraday high of $3,517 earlier today.
ETH Price, Whale Activity, RSI, and Exchange Supply – July 17 | Source: Santiment
Ethereum’s daily trading volume also increased by 7.6% to reach $19.8 billion.
According to data provided by Santiment, the supply of Ethereum on exchanges has reached $19.52 million ETH. This level was last seen in September 2021, when the asset was trading around the same price.
On the other hand, data from the market intelligence platform shows that the number of whale transactions has fallen by 12% in the last day — falling from 8,730 to 7,629 unique transactions per day.
The move shows that the supply of Ethereum on exchanges has been increasing with small deposits rather than large transactions from whales.
Additionally, the ETH Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently hovering at the 60-mark, per Santiment. The indicator shows that Ethereum is slightly overbought at this price point, but it may not be in a critical position due to its large market cap.
One of the main drivers of Ethereum price increase is ETH spot expectations ETFs in the US Investment products are scheduled to start trading on July 23rd.
Markets
Bits + Beeps: How to Play the ‘Trump Trade’ in Cryptocurrencies After the Assassination Attempt

Also, how much will the Fed cut rates (and when)? What will be the inflows into ETH ETFs? And what is the near future for Bitcoin?
Posted on July 17, 2024 at 12:00 PM EST.
Listen to the episode at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Capsules, Source, Podcast Addict, Pocket molds, Amazon Musicor on your favorite podcast platform.
In this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts James Seyffart, Alex Kruger and Joe McCann, joined by guest Jack Platts, dive into the market reaction to the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, analyzing how this event will influence the 2024 US presidential election and the cryptocurrency markets.
They also cover potential rate cuts: Could there be a cut in July? How big could the September rate cut be? Could the decision be influenced by the upcoming election?
They also give their predictions on what percentage of BTC ETF inflows the ETH ETFs will reach, and James talks about what he expects for Grayscale’s ETHE (hint: his outlook would be positive for ETH).
Finally, they delve into what’s next for Bitcoin as the German government runs out of BTC and Mt. Gox distributions begin. Just now?
Program Highlights:
- Whether Trump’s shooting decided the election and whether the event caused a “flight to safety”
- How election markets are becoming a place to watch election probabilities and whether cryptocurrencies “lean right”
- Whether rate cuts will occur in July or September and by how much they will cut: 25 bps or 50 bps
- How Joe sees the relationship between global liquidity cycles, rate cuts, and the potential rise of Bitcoin
- What are the new updates about Ethereum ETFs and their expected launch?
- Why Solana Hasn’t Performed Significantly Better Since Trump News
- What Market Breadth Indicates About the Current Market Rally and the Impact of Rates on Small Caps
- Everyone’s predictions on ETH ETF inflows and how much outflow we’ll see on Grayscale’s ETHE
- What’s Next for BTC After German Government Exits Bitcoin and Mt. Gox Giveaways Starting This Week
Hosts:
Guest:
- Jack PlattsCo-Founder and Managing Partner of Hypersphere Ventures
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