Binance Founder CZ Denied Travel to UAE Despite $4.5B Equity as Security Offering
Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was denied permission to travel to the United Arab Emirates last month. The judge denied the request despite offering to put up his roughly $4.5 billion stake in the company as security.
The details were revealed in newly released court filings related to CZ’s November guilty plea for Binance’s lax anti-money laundering controls. He faces sentencing on February 23rd in the $4.3 billion settlement.
Key Details:
- CZ sought the judge’s approval for a 1-4 week UAE visit in December.
- The stated reason was the hospitalization and surgery of an unnamed person in his life.
- Offered to post $4.5 billion in Binance equity as an assurance of return.
- The judge held a hearing but rejected the request to travel.
- Previous denials cited flight risk due to wealth abroad.
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According to the December 22nd letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Jones filed by the legal team of CZ, the Binance founder wished to be present for an unnamed individual’s hospitalization, surgery, and recovery.
CZ request rejected despite offering his Binance equity as security
While agreeing to post his full Binance stake worth billions as a bond, prosecutors objected to the travel bid. After a closed hearing on December 29th, Jones denied the request—the second rejection after an earlier ruling citing Zhao’s immense wealth abroad as reasons he may not return.
Despite stepping down as CEO, Zhao has remained in the U.S. since copping to charges related to Binance’s lax compliance and sanctions controls as part of the multi-agency investigation.
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“The defendant has enormous wealth and property abroad, and no ties to the United States. His family resides in the UAE and it appears that he has favored status in the UAE,” Jones wrote in a six-page order on Dec. 7.
The rejected request provides a window into the tricky negotiations around resolving Binance’s legal troubles while allowing Zhao himself to maintain operations abroad.
