Trump Wants Bitcoin Monopoly | CZ’s Billions Double In Jail

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CZ’S Net Worth Doubles While He Serves Prison Time

It was clear at the time of his sentencing in April that Changpeng Zhao’s four-month prison sentence was a slap on the wrist and that he would emerge with most of his fortune intact. But a silver lining for the founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange and admitted felon is that when he hits the streets in September, what looked like a $33 billion net worth is likely to be about double that amount.

Much of the added lucre is the result of research by Forbes that found Zhao’s stake in the BNB
BNB
cryptocurrency owned by Binance comes to 94 million tokens, or 64% of the 147.5 million in circulation. BNB has been on a tear this year, nearly doubling to $596. The BNB credited to Zhao—widely known by his initials CZ—by dint of his 90% ownership of Binance comes in two chunks: almost 42 million that was part of 80 million granted to the founding team in 2017 and more than 52 million that was left with the exchange as a result of a 100 million-token initial coin offering that attracted purchases of fewer than 11 million tokens.

On paper, CZ’s BNB stake is worth $56 billion, but if that supply were to be dumped on the market all at once, it would almost certainly depress the price. Valuing the tokens at half the market price makes them worth $28 billion and added to the $33 billion valuation for CZ’s equity stake in the Binance exchange itself puts his estimated wealth at about $61 billion. That would jump him to 24th place on the Forbes billionaires list from 50th.

He may move higher still. In the six months since Zhao pleaded guilty to a violation of U.S. anti-money-laundering law and agreed to pay a $50 million fine, Binance has gained market share among crypto exchanges. The valuation of CZ’s 90% stake remains unchanged and would likely increase if the company’s results improve.

Full story: How Crypto’s Richest Billionaire Doubled His Net Worth Behind Bars

Trump Calls For U.S. Monopoly On Bitcoin

Bitcoin
Mining

“We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!!,” Donald Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. The former president and presumptive Republican nominee, embracing cryptocurrency after years of skepticism, is using digital assets to score points with voters. Incumbent Joe Biden has been less enthusiastic about the sector, although the Block reported that his reelection campaign may accept crypto donations.

Trump claimed bitcoin “may be our last line of defense against” a central bank digital currency (CBDC), reiterating opposition to a so-called digital dollar issued by the Federal Reserve. The Fed has explored the concept but not expressed an opinion on whether it is a good idea. Trump has branded a CBDC a “dangerous threat to freedom” and vowing to block its creation if reelected.

Mining remaining bitcoin in the U.S. will also help the country be “ENERGY DOMINANT” Trump wrote. Bitcoin mining consumes significant amounts of energy, but it can be turned off during peak demand periods and throttled at other times, rewarding electricity generators who add capacity with stable usage.

Meanwhile, bitcoin miner Core Scientific is on a roll as it repurposes some of its energy-guzzling hardware for the high-performance computing (HPC) that underpins artificial intelligence operations. Core unveiled new details about the 300 megawatts of available HPC infrastructure that will be added to 200 megawatts committed under a recent deal with AI hyperscaler CoreWeave. CoreWeave liked the company so much it tried to buy it, offering $5.75 a share or $1 billion on June 3. Three days later, Core Scientific’s board rejected the offer as undervaluing their company, and the stock ended Friday at $10.33, up 33% for the week.

Sources: Forbes Digital Assets, CoinGecko. Prices as of 4:00 p.m. on June 14, 2024.

Some Creditors Balk At Generous FTX Bankruptcy Payout

Lawyers overseeing FTX’s bankruptcy filed a reorganization plan that would not only repay nearly all the failed cryptocurrency exchange’s customers in full but give them 18% interest for the period in which their investments were tied up. By typical bankruptcy standards that’s a great deal. But not all creditors are jumping for joy.

A key issue is that former customers of the exchange are being offered full compensation for the dollar value of their cryptocurrency holdings at the time FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2022. Unfortunately, that was near the nadir of digital-asset values because of an industry tailspin that was exacerbated by the company’s failure. Bankruptcy cases typically work that way, but a chorus of creditors, commentators and academics claim customers have been wrongfully deprived of their property, and that’s not the only thing they are upset about.

They also say current FTX management is failing to maximize the company’s value, neglecting the best interests of former customers and other creditors. Recurring complaints have been made against Sullivan & Cromwell, the main law firm representing the current FTX and also its counsel for various pre-bankruptcy issues.

Elsewhere

Ether ETFs Likely Approved By September, SEC Chair Gensler Tells Senators [Crypto News Flash]

The State Of Crypto: The Fortune 500 Moving Onchain [Coinbase]

SEC Reaches $4.47 Billion Settlement With Now-Bankrupt Crypto Firm Terraform Labs [Reuters]

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