- CZ's net worth was $97B in January 2022, $26B now
- Armstrong saw his net worth drop 11.8% to $2.2B
- Both exchanges will fight the case
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong have seen their net worth plummet after the lawsuits brought by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
Within 30 hours of the securities regulator’s suit, CZ’s net worth was slashed by $1.33 billion and Armstrong saw his fall by $289 million, data from Bloomberg and Forbes show, cited by Cointelegraph.
Binance’s CEO lost $71B in a year
CZ is the richest person in the crypto industry and the 54th richest in the world. His net worth was $97 billion in January 2022 according to Bloomberg data, compared to $26 billion at the moment. His net worth fell 5.1% within 30 hours of news of the lawsuit.
Armstrong saw his net worth drop 11.8% to $2.2 billion in this same time frame. However, he took advantage of the market rebound in 2023 and his net worth has grown 61% so far this year.
Binance and Coinbase will fight the charges
Both exchanges promise to fight the charges, with Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal telling US Congress on June 6 that they have embraced regulation ever since their founding over 10 years ago. Coinbase was issued a Wells Notice two and a half months ago, in which SEC warned them of impending enforcement action. At the time, Armstrong commented that the notice “was not constructive when there’s not a clear rule book.”
On June 6, Coinbase released a video, in which they said they had mentioned staking dozens of times in a report they filed with the watchdog before their initial public offering. The lawsuit mentions Coinbase’s staking program as a major alleged violation of federal securities law. The exchange met with the regulator to ask for guidance 30 times last year, but to no avail.
