Binance has agreed to pay more than $4 billion to resolve most of the US investigations into it, and CEO Changpeng Zhao has resigned
AFP

KEY POINTS

  • CZ stepped down as Binance CEO as part of his settlement agreement with the DOJ
  • He was released on a $175M bond and allowed to return to his UAE residence
  • However, the DOJ thought he might not return to the U.S. if allowed to leave

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is under fire. Apart from having his X account momentarily restricted following his resignation announcement, U.S. prosecutors filed a motion to prevent him from leaving the country.

Zhao, also known as CZ in the crypto space, created a buzz on Tuesday when he announced that he was stepping down as the CEO of Binance, the world's largest centralized crypto exchange platform by trading volume.

The Binance founder then revealed on Thursday that his account on social media platform X was restricted.

At the time, his X profile reportedly displayed a standard restricted account message, which read, "Caution: This account is temporarily restricted. You're seeing this warning because they may have potentially violated the X Rules. Do you still want to view it?"

Zhao's account did not appear to have been fully restricted by X, as it became accessible again to the public almost an hour later.

The Binance founder later shared that the temporary restriction might have been caused by his move to change his profile name from "CZ Binance" to "CZ BNB."

Also after his historic settlement agreement with the U.S. government, the Department of Justic (DOJ) immediately filed a motion to prevent the former Binance CEO from leaving the country.

The court initially allowed Zhao to return to his residence in the United Arab Emirates and fly back to the U.S. a few weeks before his sentencing, which is set for next year. This was under a $175 million bond agreement with U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian A. Tsuchida, which came with certain conditions, including a hefty financial bond and guarantors.

However, the DOJ thought the crypto executive might not return to the U.S. if allowed to leave, considering his wealth and connections in the Middle Eastern country, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S.

"As a non-U.S. but UAE (United Arab Emirates) citizen with substantial wealth outside the United States, minimal ties to the United States and a residence in a country without an extradition treaty with the United States, Zhao poses a serious risk of flight and [it is] requested that he be required to remain in the continental United States pending sentencing," U.S. prosecutors said.

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