Zhao knew that Binance was required to institute anti-money-laundering protocols, but instead directed the company to disguise customers’ locations in the US in an effort to avoid complying with US law, prosecutors said.

More than 160 friends, colleagues and investors submitted letters in support of Zhao, painting a picture of a humble, charitable family man and innovative entrepreneur who preferred Toyota minivans to luxury cars and his aunt’s home-cooked meals over five-star restaurants.

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Once considered the most powerful person in the crypto industry, Zhao, known as “CZ”, was perhaps best known as the chief rival to Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, which was the second-largest crypto exchange before it collapsed in 2022. Bankman-Fried was convicted last November of fraud for stealing at least $US10 billion from customers and investors and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Zhao and Bankman-Fried were originally friendly competitors in the industry, with Binance investing in FTX when Bankman-Fried launched the exchange in 2019. However, the relationship between the two deteriorated, culminating in Zhao announcing he was selling all of his cryptocurrency investments in FTX in early November 2022. FTX filed for bankruptcy a week later.