The prices of Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance’s BNB (BNB) tokens have fallen slightly since the start of the trading day following the early release of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao from detention on September 27.
According to a previous Forbes report, Zhao holds 64% of the total BNB supply, and the entrepreneur’s net worth in June 2024 would be approximately $61 billion, making him the 24th richest person in the world at the time. Zhao’s massive holdings of Binance’s native currency raised concerns about the token’s centralization after the report was published.
The 94 million BNB tokens currently held by Zhao represent a value of approximately $57 billion at the time of this writing. This is a significant decrease compared to June 2024, when the price exceeded $700.
A 2024 analysis conducted by Gray Wolf Analytics and Forbes shows that the original Binance team was initially allocated 80 million BNB tokens. Additionally, the company still holds approximately 46 million tokens.
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DOJ Indictment and Settlement Affect BNB Price
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced indictments against Binance and Zhao in 2023. It alleges that Binance’s founder violated bank secrecy laws.
In a document jointly filed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, government regulators stated:
“Although Binance is not a publicly traded company, it is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and news related to Zhao and Binance’s criminal and civil liability is likely to have a significant impact on various cryptocurrency trading.”
This statement turned out to be accurate, and after news of the $4 billion settlement between Binance and the Securities and Exchange Commission broke on November 21, the price of BNB rose by approximately 7% within 24 hours.
The SEC settlement cost Binance $4.3 billion, and Zhao was fined an additional $50 million as part of the settlement. The DOJ also mandated that Binance must conduct independent monitoring for the next three years and appointed the Forensic Risk Alliance to monitor the company’s business operations.
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