BNB, the native cryptocurrency of the Binance Ecosystem has reversed the gains it made leading up to the release of Changpeng Zhao. The Token has dipped days after CZ was released from prison in a move that opposes popular prediction by analysts.
The release of CZ from a halfway house last Friday seems to have done very little for the native token of his platform which he owns a huge portion of its allocation.
BNB is currently exchanging hands for $597.73 dropping by 0.8% in the last 24 hours but is still up 2.6% over the last 7 days.
A Forbes report revealed that CZ holds a whopping 64% of the total BNB shooting his net worth to $61 billion and making him the 24th richest man in the world.
Given his influence in the industry, his release from prison was expected to spark a rally of crypto assets under his circle of influence.
The report on Changpeng Zhao’s 64% ownership of BNB’s total allocation sparked a debate on the centralization of the token against crypto’s perceived decentralization Mantra.
BNB as an asset over the months has dropped in price so has CZ’s perceived net worth. A few months ago BNB was roughly trading for $700. At the current price level, CZ’s 94 million token stash is worth about $57 billion.
The Original Binance team got an allocation of 80 million BNB tokens according to an analysis done by Forbes in collaboration with Grey Wolf Analysis. The team is currently left with 46 million tokens out of the initial stash.
Despite the current turn of things, BNB’s price was once positively affected by CZ’s legal tussle.
In 2023, Binance Ltd and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement agreement for $4 billion.
The Price of BNB surged by 7% within 24 hours following the news of the agreement.
The Price of BNB also surged significantly in the week leading up to the release of CZ.
Changpeng Zhao’s Legal tussle in the United States started last year after he was charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was also charged with breaking Anti Money Laundering rules and facilitating transactions for sanctioned entities.
CZ who has Chinese and Canadian citizenship was the richest inmate in the world during his time of incarceration.