PANews reported on September 27 that according to Fortune magazine, on Friday, CZ will step onto the streets of Long Beach, California, as a free man for the first time. This is the first time he has regained his freedom in months. Since April, CZ has been in federal detention after agreeing to return to the United States from Dubai to serve a five-month sentence for failing to implement appropriate anti-money laundering controls at Binance, which he founded. During this period, CZ spent about two months in a minimum security prison in the California desert, and was then transferred to a halfway house in Long Beach, where he can go out under supervision and even go to the cinema, according to prison officials. Now, as CZ returns to society with a personal fortune of about $60 billion, the 25th largest in the world, and his legal troubles have been resolved, he will have more options. CZ's lawyer said that CZ hopes not to be interviewed on the day of his release. However, the media made some speculations about his next move.
CZ's first stop is likely to be Dubai or Paris, where his children live with their mother He Yi. In addition, the media expects that as CZ is released from prison, more details of the Giggle Academy project launched before his imprisonment may emerge in the coming months. In addition to family and charity, CZ, who is now free, may turn his attention to a third pursuit: the cryptocurrency industry that made him extremely rich and dominated the past decade. However, in the field of cryptocurrency, CZ faces a major dilemma: according to his criminal settlement agreement, he must resign as CEO of Binance and stay away from any "daily" activities of the company. At the same time, the settlement agreement also requires Binance to accept two external monitors appointed by the US government to ensure compliance. Despite these obvious restrictions, even if CZ is no longer the CEO, he is still the company's largest shareholder, which should give him considerable influence on the company's future direction.
In response to a request for comment on CZ release, a Binance spokesperson said: “We are happy that CZ is reunited with his family. While he no longer manages or operates Binance, we are excited to see what he does next. Since last year, Binance has continued to thrive under the leadership of our current team, with more than 229 million users worldwide.” Finally, it’s worth noting that CZ is only 47 years old — the prime of many executives’ careers and the age at which many first assume the CEO role. All of this suggests that CZ is well prepared for his second act, and that his influence will continue to be felt in the cryptocurrency and business world for years to come.
