Binance ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao says he’ll ‘deal with pain’ in internal memo

Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down as Binance’s CEO on Tuesday, said in an internal memo to staff that he will have to “deal with some pain but will survive.”

“I needed a break anyway. And now I got it,” Zhao said, according to a screenshot of the letter first reported by crypto journalist Colin Wu. Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the memo's authenticity.

Binance is expected to hold a company-wide town hall meeting — at which Zhao and his successor Richard Teng are expected to speak — at 9 p.m. Hong Kong time on Wednesday, a source close to the company told The Block.

"l need everyone to continue performing admirably," Zhao added, quoting from the Star Trek movie.

Pleading guilty 

Earlier today, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and stepped down as the CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange. As part of the plea deal, Zhao agreed to pay a $50 million fine. Binance, the company, will pay a $4.3 billion fine for violating money transmission laws and U.S. sanctions.

Zhao will also pay a $175 million personal recognizance bond and must agree to appear in court in Seattle on February 23 next year for sentence hearings, a court filing showed.

Despite the heavy blow dealt to its business in the U.S., Binance has already tried to frame a vision for its future. “[When] Binance first launched, it did not have compliance controls adequate for the company that it was quickly becoming, and it should have,” the company said in a blog post published today. “Over the past two years, we have worked hard to restructure our organization and personnel and upgrade our systems.”

The world’s largest crypto exchange saw a significant uptick in withdrawals today. Data from DefiLlama showed that Binance’s 24-hour outflows topped $1 billion as of 3:30 p.m. Hong Kong time on Wednesday. The exchange's net outflows over 7 days amounted to $703.1 million.