Changpeng Zhao, the Binance mastermind and former CEO, had a monster 2023—his net worth skyrocketed by $25 billion, shrugging off a stormy crypto market and a pile of regulatory headaches for his exchange.
A Bloomberg report, pulling from their Billionaires Index, pegs Zhao’s crypto-stacked wealth as jumping over $20 billion this year, leaving peers like Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong and Gemini’s Winklevoss twins—Cameron and Tyler—in the dust, though they too saw their fortunes swell.
It’s a stunning rebound from 2022’s carnage, when Terra and FTX’s collapses dragged the market into the gutter. This year, crypto fought back, and Zhao’s stash—mostly Bitcoin, Binance Coin, and his Binance stake—rode the wave to dizzying heights. That’s wild considering the mess Binance waded through: lawsuits from the U.S. CFTC and SEC, plus regulatory tangles abroad that forced it to cough up a $4.3 billion fine to settle anti-money laundering charges with the CFTC. Zhao’s now set for a U.S. courtroom showdown on February 23, facing up to 18 years—or maybe just 18 months with a plea deal.
