Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, had his net worth drop by more than $2 billion on Wednesday as a result of news that the CFTC is suing his exchange.
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index shows that Zhao slipped seven positions from position 46 at $27.9 billion to position 51 at $25.8 billion.
Even at present paper prices, Zhao's wealth may buy as much as 330 million barrels of crude oil and 13.2 million troy ounces of gold. According to index statistics, that is comparable to 0.11% of the US's overall GDP.
Zhao was born in China and subsequently brought up in Canada by his mother, a teacher, and his father, an academic who worked at the University of British Columbia.
According to Bloomberg data, Zhao's paper net worth has lost more than 65% of its value from a year ago, when it was $73.9 billion, to its present levels. The losses follow a number of industry-wide corporate failures in 2022 that had a negative influence on investor interest and the prices of digital assets.
The CEO's wealth is derived from his ownership of Binance, which reportedly serves more than 120 million users globally and is home to hundreds of cryptoassets. Binance.US, which was originally valued at $4.7 billion in a capital round in March of last year, is another company owned by Zhao.
