Ex-Binance CEO CZ Navigates Legal Storm, BNB Price Explodes by 8%

• Despite the legal tribulations facing Binance, CZ’s fortune has grown by more than $25 billion in 2023.
• The recent BNB price spike has invalidated a possible FTX scenario amid the ongoing altcoin awakening.

Amid the ongoing crypto regulatory crackdown in the United States, leading digital asset exchange Binance has been the most hit. Currently, Binance co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao alias CZ is awaiting sentencing in the United States after he pleaded guilty to fraud among other charges and the exchange agreed to pay a fine of about $4.3 billion to the US Department of Treasury.

However, the latest data shows that CZ’s fortune grew by a whopping $25 billion in 2023. Moreover, CZ is a major shareholder of BNB and other DeFi tokens that have experienced notable growth in the recent past amid the ongoing altcoin awakening.

Earlier this month, US District Judge Richard Jones ruled that CZ cannot return to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before his sentencing as he poses a flight risk. As a result, John Reed Stark, a former chief at the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement, has argued that CZ might be looking at a ten-year prison time on the lower side. Additionally, Reed believes a Binance collapse is inevitable despite the newly appointed CEO Richard Teng indicating otherwise. 

Notably, Binance is currently navigating to establish its global headquarters in a bid to reassure institutional investors of the unwavering safety of their funds. Nonetheless, Binance is still regulated in a dozen of jurisdictions including in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Binance Ecosystem Thrives Under Pressure

The Binance ecosystem has grown to a vibrant web3 hub with about $3.53 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) and a stablecoins market cap of around $4.54 billion. As an EVM-compatible blockchain with notable layer two (L2) chains like the opBNB, the Binance network has attracted notable decentralized financial (DeFi) developers. Some of the notable DeFi protocols on the Binance network include Pancakeswap DEX with over $1.5 billion in TVL, Venus lending platform with more than $900 million in TVL, and PinkSale launchpad with over $180 million in TVL.

The Binance ecosystem takes pride in a self-sustaining infrastructure that has enabled it to grow amid regulatory pressure. For instance, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange has more than 170 million registered users from all over the world. According to on-chain data provided through Coinglass, the Binance exchange has the highest Bitcoin balance of about 524,603 coins and has gained over 16.6k in the past month.

BNB Price Action and Analysis

The Binance coin (BNB) has rallied more than 43% in the past four weeks to trade at $327.

The large-cap altcoin with a fully diluted valuation of about $50 billion has now entered a fresh macro bull market and only needs to consistently close above $300 for the coming weeks to invalidate a possible death cross between the 50 and 200 Moving Averages (MA).

Meanwhile, the BNB bullish outlook is bolstered by the weekly Relative Strength Index (RSI) which has rallied above the 70 level for the first time since May 2021. From a technical standpoint, BNB’s price is now aiming at the next psychological resistance range between $350 and $400.