Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of %Cryptocurrency exchange %Binance, has been released from U.S. prison after serving four months for violating America’s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
Zhao, who is a Canadian citizen, pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, as well as failing to set up an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program at Binance during his tenure running the crypto exchange.
In April, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison and agreed to pay a $50 million U.S. fine as part of a plea deal with U.S. authorities.
Zhao also agreed to step down as CEO of Binance. Separately, Binance agreed to pay a $4.3 billion U.S. fine to various U.S. regulators to settle charges related to compliance violations.
Now, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons says that Zhao has been released and is a free person.
Zhao entered a plea agreement to avoid a potentially lengthier prison term, with federal prosecutors seeking three years behind bars for the crypto billionaire.
Zhao served three months in a low-security prison located in Lompoc on California’s central coast.
In August, he was transferred to a halfway house in San Pedro, California before being released on Sept. 27.
With an estimated net worth of $25.3 billion U.S., Zhao is believed to be the richest person to ever go to prison in the U.S. He is also listed as Canada’s richest individual person.
It is not clear where Zhao will reside now that he has been released from the U.S. prison system and what his plans are after dissociating himself from the Binance crypto exchange.