Changpeng Zhao is walking free. What will he do next?

He’s banned from running Binance for life — and says he plans to educate children and focus on philanthropy. But does that mean CZ’s days in crypto are truly behind him?

Changpeng Zhao was the world’s richest inmate, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $61.6 billion.

Now, after serving four months behind bars for admitting that Binance failed to enforce adequate Know Your Customer checks — a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act — he walked out of a low-security prison in California as a free man on Friday Sept. 27.

CZ’s initial release date had been slated for September 29, but rules suggested that, given this would be a Sunday, wardens had the discretion to release him on Friday instead.

Despite the relatively short sentence, life will be quite different for the billionaire. He commanded a cult-like status while overseeing Binance, but he has now been handed a lifetime ban from managing the exchange.

All of this has led to swirling speculation about what CZ will do next. Will he return to crypto, the industry that made him his vast fortune? Could there be a pivot to AI? At the hearing where he was sentenced back in April, the 47-year-old suggested that neither was a priority, declaring:

“For the next chapter of my life, I want to provide opportunities for others, namely our youth. I’m building a platform to provide high-quality education for underprivileged kids, all around the world, for free.”

To that end, a website has been created called Giggle Academy — but a cursory glance suggests that it remains very much in the pre-launch phase.

For its part, Binance is wishing CZ well and making clear that there are no hard feelings since Richard Teng succeeded him as CEO.

“We are delighted that CZ will be home with his family. While he is not managing or operating Binance, we are excited to see what he does next.” 

There’s little doubt that the entrepreneur will be itching to update his 8.8 million followers on X, where he was a visible presence before his incarceration.

CZ’s future

Campaigners maintain that the punishment CZ received amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist — with Better Markets previously claiming there was “overwhelming evidence” to suggest CZ “willfully, knowingly, and intentionally designed and ran Binance to be a crypto money laundering superstore for the most despicable global criminals.”

His four-month stint in jail was well short of the 18-month maximum set out in sentencing guidelines — and miles away from the three years that U.S. prosecutors had sought. One former Binance employee, who did not wish to be named, told crypto.news: 

“It seems like a pretty short sentence compared to the crimes that he was on trial for — it feels like yet another example of a financial criminal not being prosecuted for long enough.”

They went on to argue that, given their personal knowledge of CZ and his personality, four months is nowhere near enough for the fallen businessman to learn from his crimes.

“I’d imagine he sees this as a small but unfortunate blip in his path towards building his empire.”

The ex-Binance employee told us that they are unsure whether CZ will ever make an appearance in the crypto space — but noted that some of his closest lieutenants have now taken over leadership of the exchange.

“Even if he is never actually ‘working’ in crypto again, the fact that He Yi is still at Binance means that CZ will never be far from crypto.”

He Yi is Binance’s co-founder and chief customer service officer, who has been CZ’s partner since 2014.

But there’s a bigger question to ask here — how much damage has Changpeng Zhao done to the world’s largest crypto exchange? The platform has been banned by some of the world’s largest economies in recent years — including the U.K. and U.S. When asked whether his jail time will have a lasting impact on the platform, our source said:

“I don’t actually think so. No one seems to remember CZ and Binance’s crimes compared to SBF and FTX.”

There’s little doubt that CZ’s top priority now is to start rehabilitating his image — but both he and Binance will continue to face legal challenges in the coming months.

Just a few short years ago, any reference to potential headwinds would have attracted a breezy “4” from CZ — a number he used as shorthand for “FUD“: fear, uncertainty and doubt.

No longer a part of the empire he helped build, Changpeng Zhao may not cut a more humble figure.