A total of 161 individuals submitted letters of support for Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, in anticipation of his April 30 sentencing for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. These letters were included in an April 23 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Zhao stepped down from his role as Binance CEO in November when Binance reached a resolution with the U.S. government over historical compliance issues. As part of this resolution, Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties and will permit a third-party monitor to access its transactions and accounts. Furthermore, Zhao consented to plead guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program as part of the settlement.
The court filing reveals that Zhao's family, friends, employees, colleagues, government and community leaders, and other industry professionals filed these letters of support. In one such letter, Yi He, Binance's other co-founder, wrote that when she first met Zhao in 2014 he was "full of idealism about the positive changes blockchain technology could bring to the world." She added that after Binance launched, Zhao "hoped that the company would succeed, but he wasn’t a person whose ultimate goal was making money. He wanted to use technology to advance the world." He highlighted Zhao's dedication to philanthropy and social responsibility which she attributed to his "humanitarian spirit." She also underscored Zhao's ongoing commitment to collaborating with law enforcement agencies worldwide and supporting Binance's users.
Other supporters who submitted letters include friends from his high school and university in Canada; Max Baucus, a former U.S. Senator and Ambassador; Gabriel Abed, a diplomat from Barbados; Richmond Teo, co-founder of Paxos; Columbia University Associate Professor Ronghui Gu; and Flora Fang, Chief Operating Officer of the virtual reality firm Highstreet. Additionally, 29 Binance users and community members submitted letters.
According to the filing, two of Zhao's children also expressed their support through letters. Rachel, a sophomore at New York University, portrayed Zhao as a loving and supportive father. "I implore Your Honor to consider my father’s positive attributes; to not define my father’s character solely through this one incident and consider the entirety of his character," she said. Ryan, a computer science student at Pepperdine University, urged the judge to "view my father not solely through the lens of this circumstance but through the course of his entire life."
Investopedia states that Zhao was born in China but moved to Canada with his family when he was young after his father was exiled for his intellectual views. Before launching Binance in 2017, he held various roles in the financial sector. The exchange now boasts a daily trading volume of $76 billion with 90 million users worldwide.