Binance’s Changpeng “CZ” Zhao Saw 80% Drop In His Net Worth This Year Despite Market Rally

While the cryptocurrency market made a strong recovery in 2023, crypto billionaire and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao saw his net worth plunge by 80% since the beginning of the year.

Binance Facing A Rough Patch In 2023

Binance has been sailing through a rough patch on multiple fronts, especially in its battle with the US SEC and other global regulators. The exchange achieved an increase in market share earlier this year, reaching its peak at 62% of the total cryptocurrency trades conducted on exchanges during the first quarter. This growth was primarily due to the zero-fee promotion for popular trading pairs. Earlier this year in January 2023, CZ’s net worth stood at a staggering $96 billion.

However, after the conclusion of this promotional period, Binance’s market share declined to 51% by the end of the third quarter, as reported by research firm CCData. As per the data from Bloomberg, the company’s revenue tanked by 38% as volumes at the exchange dried up amid its regulatory fights. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index data shows that this alone wiped out $12 billion from CZ’s net worth finally dropping him to $17.2 billion. This shows that since the beginning of 2023, 80% of his net worth has been eroded.

Ongoing Battle With US SEC

Over the past few months, the cryptocurrency exchange has experienced growing isolation from the conventional financial system.

In June, Binance faced a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission, while earlier in the year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission pursued legal action against the company for failing to comply with regulations that enabled US users to use the Binance platform.

Regulatory authorities accused the firm of insufficient money-laundering controls, inflating trading volumes, and mishandling client assets. Binance contests these allegations and is actively contesting them in court.

Following the announcement that Binance’s US exchange would no longer support dollar transactions, Bloomberg’s wealth index adjusted its valuation to zero, leading to a significant drop in trading volumes. In a funding round in March 2022, Binance.US valuations stood at $4.7 billion. However, in an attempt to boost transparency, Binance.US has recently considered listing new altcoins.