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 Author: Guo Ruyi Source: Business Figures (ID: biz-leaders) One day in late November, Zhao Changpeng walked into a court in Seattle, USA. This was his first time in such a place, and he felt anxious. He came to plead guilty to one "crime" - money laundering. Before that, he was the richest man in the cryptocurrency world, his company Binance was the largest exchange in the industry, and there were no obvious signs that he was going to get into trouble. What happened later is known to the outside world. Changpeng Zhao was accused by the US regulatory authorities of violating anti-money laundering regulations. Binance had to pay a fine of US$4.3 billion. Zhao himself was fined US$50 million and may be imprisoned for no more than 18 months. The final verdict will be released in February next year. After paying more than $100 million in bail, the former crypto king was released on bail. He resigned as Binance's CEO and had to retreat behind the scenes. At the age of 46, Zhao Changpeng encountered a major change in his life. The trial of Changpeng Zhao means that the cryptocurrency giants have retreated in their struggle with regulation. In the past few years, exchanges represented by Binance have become a place for the flow of large amounts of funds, both clean and unclean. They all hide their identities here and flow to all parts of the world. This is an outright provocation to the current global financial order. Now, the industry leader has been eliminated. In the cryptocurrency world, Changpeng Zhao was once one of the most followed people. He founded Binance in 2017. In just a few years, the platform became the top in the industry and intended to become a stock exchange like Nasdaq. Changpeng Zhao's personal net worth has also skyrocketed, reaching an exaggerated tens of billions of dollars. This achievement has stimulated more people to flood into this impetuous industry and also want to get rich overnight. The rise of Binance is almost completely outside the current regulatory system, which is destined to not be recognized by the mainstream. So far, the outside world does not know where Binance’s headquarters is, and Changpeng Zhao himself has traveled to different countries in search of places with more friendly policy environments. Prior to this guilty plea, he was based in the United Arab Emirates, where he directed Binance’s global operations. In fact, U.S. regulatory authorities have focused on Binance as early as 2018, and related investigations have continued for several years. In March this year, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance and Changpeng Zhao for violating regulatory measures. In the following months, Binance and the regulatory authorities began to go back and forth. Binance needed to end the compliance investigation against it, and the regulatory authorities probably did not want to waste more time. So the current situation is: Changpeng Zhao pleads guilty in exchange for a sentence of no more than 18 months. He can continue to own Binance, but Binance needs to operate under supervision. It can be regarded as a recruitment. In terms of bad luck, Changpeng Zhao was not the one who received the most attention in the currency circle. Just over half a month before he appeared in court, the fallen former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (known as SBF) was found guilty of fraud and money laundering. In March next year, his final verdict will also be announced. Fried is currently in jail in Brooklyn, New York. The 31-year-old former super-rich man has been reduced to educating inmates about cryptocurrency. The collapse of FTX was the most famous event in the currency circle last year. Similar to Binance, FTX was once a large cryptocurrency exchange, but on a smaller scale, but Fried, like Changpeng Zhao, is the most influential figure in this field. Fried comes from a typical white American elite family, has a glorious resume, and is young and frivolous. Coincidentally, he also started his business in 2017. At that time, he founded a sister company of FTX (providing services for cryptocurrency trading), and then founded FTX, and then embarked on a short-lived path of madness. Compared to Zhao Changpeng, Fried enjoys it much more. A small circle gathered around him, which not only jointly managed FTX but also consumed without restraint. In the Bahamas, Fred spent $30 million to buy a luxury apartment as an office location. In media interviews with Zhao Changpeng, Zhao was not interested in yachts and luxury homes. His biggest requirement for a car is that he can fold down the rear seats to sleep. The two of them had a "sweet" relationship. Binance has invested in FTX, and Changpeng Zhao and Fried also expressed their intention to cooperate and contribute to the industry. But this relationship later broke down. The reason why FTX accelerated its collapse in the second half of last year was related to Zhao Changpeng's public short-selling. Fried was furious, thinking that if Changpeng Zhao had not interfered with the situation, FTX might still have a chance of survival, and the two completely turned against each other from then on. When Fried was in disrepute, Changpeng Zhao increasingly became the industry’s “anchor”. With the collapse of FTX, Binance’s market share further increased, making it seem like it was too big to fall. But the outside world would not have thought that this sea-fixing needle would be shaken after just one year. The currency circle is a mixed industry, where flaunting technological innovation and cutting leeks go hand in hand. Both Changpeng Zhao and Fried are complicated, and it’s hard to tell which one they belong to. In a worldly sense, they were both very successful. Even if they were taken to court, both of them could easily pay bail of one to two hundred million US dollars. Especially Changpeng Zhao, who has only been fined some money so far. His control over Binance is enough for him to continue to be an invisible boss. Justin Sun, another leading figure in the currency circle, also sees this very clearly. Just when Changpeng Zhao resigned as CEO of Binance, the pushy Justin Sun spoke publicly. He complimented (I don’t know whether it was true or false) and said that without Changpeng Zhao, the cryptocurrency industry would not have reached the height it is today. He felt sad about Zhao Changpeng's resignation, but at the same time he was happy that Zhao Changpeng could enjoy life. And for Fried, who is having a hard time turning around, he may not be interested in saying these words anymore. In fact, Justin Sun is no stranger to these two people. When FTX was on the verge of collapse last year, Justin Sun also took the initiative to get involved. He said at the time that he was considering investing billions of dollars to help Fried get out of trouble to show the unity of the industry. But this is obviously another show, a blank check. In the eyes of the outside world, it is not surprising that Sun Yuchen would do such a thing. However, he did do something to provide an escape opportunity for TRON tokens traded on FTX, so that investors can recover some of their losses. So some people expressed their gratitude to him, thinking that it was Brother Sun who saved them. TRON is a blockchain project founded by Justin Sun, also in 2017. A few days after FTX went bankrupt, Justin Sun and Changpeng Zhao sat down together in Bali, and they had a meal together. Sun Yuchen naturally made this matter public. He said that both of them believed that they should unite to overcome the difficulties caused by the collapse of FTX. Justin Sun described the meal as feeling like a "meeting of giants", as if to say that he is too important to this industry. But now, with Zhao Changpeng about to be imprisoned, the only prominent figure who is still active is Sun Yuchen. Judging from the current market situation, Justin Sun may have overestimated his responsibility. Originally, the outside world thought that the crisis of FTX and Binance would severely impact the cryptocurrency industry. However, after Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty, Bitcoin surged and once again stood at US$40,000. This may indicate that it is difficult to establish barriers in this industry. Even if it seems to be a monopoly, it is not too big to fail. If one god falls, create another one. There are so many crypto trading platforms, who is more advanced than whom? In addition to supporting Zhao Changpeng on social platforms, Justin Sun has made some news recently. At the end of November, a cryptocurrency exchange related to Justin Sun was hacked and hundreds of millions of dollars were stolen. This happened once in September, when Justin Sun said that the stolen funds accounted for a small proportion compared to the assets held by the platform, so there was no need to panic. This time he said that the platform will bear all the stolen funds of customers and that user assets are 100% safe. Even though he said he would pursue the thief with all his strength, in reality there was probably no chance. This shows the high risks of the crypto industry, because Fried said the same thing at the beginning, they always say everything is under control and customers don’t have to worry. Due to the lack of necessary compliance systems, engaging in cryptocurrency trading can be called a blind box journey. Adrenaline and quick-acting heart-saving pills are given to you, which is exciting and dangerous. The fact that TRON can continue to this day may not be because it is more compliant and authoritative than FTX and Binance. It may just be that the black swans have not patronized it. Among the "three heroes" in the currency circle, they do have similarities. For example, they started their businesses at the same time, they all claim to have technical faith in cryptocurrency, and they also have similar operating routines (they all like to use celebrity websites as a means of acquiring customers). But Changpeng Zhao rarely promotes himself everywhere. Fried even said that as long as he can make money, he can engage in other industries. In comparison, Justin Sun seems to be even crazier. Even if many of the evangelists in the currency circle with him have disappeared, he will still continue to play. He must have this bowl of rice. What's objectionable about Justin Sun may be the deliberate creation of his character. Among Zhao Changpeng, Fried and Vitalik, Sun should be the one who wears the most suits and has the most elegant hairstyle. Just search for pictures on the Internet and you can see it. There is nothing wrong with wearing a suit, but in an industry where rebellion and individuality are popular, this look always feels out of place. It’s as if he wears a suit not for comfort but for taking pictures. In terms of personal image modification, he is the most refined one. If the practice of coercing celebrities is a thing of the past, now Justin Sun has entered an advanced stage in this regard. It’s easy to find his recent promotional articles online, such as being on the 2023 “Cryptophilanthropic Figures” list, which claims to honor those who have made contributions to the industry in the past year. Justin Sun was “selected for the list because of his remarkable philanthropic achievements.” Another one was the opening of an exhibition of a collection of art masters sponsored by Sun Yuchen. He became the holder of these sky-high price collections, "adding special significance to this special exhibition." The manuscript also emphasized that Sun Yuchen has a "private art gallery" - seeing this, his whole temperament suddenly sublimated. It cannot be denied that Justin Sun is very successful, young and rich, spanning Grenada's political circles (he is its ambassador to the WTO), currency circles, charity circles and art collection circles. Encyclopedia information shows that he is also an outstanding young man, a writer and a well-known social activist in the world. His resume has to be scrolled down for several pages to read. This kind of success will be envied and even criticized, but if Brother Sun enjoys himself, that is enough. After all, without Justin Sun, many things would become boring. *Title picture | Visual China -END-       |
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