Cryptocurrency market recovers, CZ assets increase to 36.2 billion USD in 2023

Thanks to the rise of the cryptocurrency market, the assets of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have recovered significantly, according to information from the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. By the end of 2023, CZ's assets reached 36.2 billion USD, an increase of 25 billion USD over the same period last year.

Changpeng Zhao is currently ranked 37th on the list of the world's richest people, with the majority of his wealth stemming from CZ's stake in Binance. However, the statistics do not include the amount of BTC, BNB and altcoins believed to be owned by him.
This rapid growth has brought Changpeng Zhao back to his position, after only in October, CZ was still only ranked 95th on the list of the world's richest billionaires.
The significant recovery of the cryptocurrency market in the last two months of the year helped CZ restore this position. However, the above figure is still far from the record $97 billion in assets reached by Changpeng Zhao in early 2022.
In addition to Changpeng Zhao, many other crypto billionaires also saw their assets skyrocket after the latest statistics of the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. This includes Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong ($7.2 billion), Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam ($2.5 billion), Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss ($2.7 billion each), and Established Digital Currency Group Barry Silbert ($2 billion). However, it's not all joy, in November, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to violating money laundering regulations before the US government and is preparing to wait for a prison sentence in February 2024.
He also had to accept his resignation as CEO. Binance and paid a fine of 50 million USD, while Binance reached an agreement to pay a fine of 4.3 billion USD to end the investigation from the US.