The former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), reportedly holds a significant 64% of Binance Coin’s circulating supply. This equates to approximately 94 million BNB tokens. This information was uncovered in a recent report by Forbes, who concluded via a forensic analysis by Gray Wolf Analytics that out of the 80 million BNB tokens initially allocated to the Binance founding team, the company and CZ continue to control 46 million of those tokens.
Binance Coin (BNB), the token native to the Binance platform, is traded for fees and rewards on the platform. BNB has a cap of 200 million tokens and 153 million of these are currently active in circulation. The token at present is trading at $593 each, bringing the total market cap of BNB to a staggering $91 billion.
CZ’s substantial equity stake in Binance coupled with the value of his crypto holdings has catapulted him to great heights financially, making him the 24th richest individual in the world with an estimated net worth of $61 billion. It’s worth noting that Binance and CZ together control a dominating 71% of the 147 million BNB in circulation.
In the light of legal matters, CZ had previously pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in 2023. This plea culminated in his relinquishing of his leadership role at Binance and concurrently attracting fines totaling $50 million. Binance too was not exempt from legal repercussions and was handed a hefty fine of $4.3 billion. Despite the legal proceedings, BNB has enjoyed a sustained bull run that has seen its price more than double from $290 in January 2024 to a high of $724 in June.