Binance Founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao Could Be Released on Friday

• CZ was sentenced to four months in prison in April after

  pleading guilty

  to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to set up an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program at Binance.

• “We are delighted that CZ will be home with his family. While he is not managing or operating Binance, we are excited to see what he does next,” a Binance spokesperson said.

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, could be released on Friday, two days ahead of his scheduled release date of September 29th (Sunday), according to an interpretation of the law.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons rule states that “The Bureau of Prisons may release an inmate whose release date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, on the last preceding weekday unless it is necessary to detain the inmate for another jurisdiction seeking custody under a detainer, or for any other reason which might indicate that the inmate should not be released until the inmate’s scheduled release date.”

The decision may depend on the discretionary authority given to Wardens. The Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for clarification and comment sent outside of office hours from CoinDesk.

CZ was sentenced to four months in prison in April after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to set up an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program at Binance.

If released on Friday, CZ would have spent 116 days in prison. He spent three months at a low-security prison, Lompoc II, on California’s central coast before being moved to a halfway house in San Pedro, California in late August.

“We are delighted that CZ will be home with his family. While he is not managing or operating Binance, we are excited to see what he does next,” a Binance spokesperson said. “Since last year, Binance has continued to thrive under the leadership of our current team, surpassing 230 million users globally.”