Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) is about to be released from prison on Sunday, and there is increasing discussion in the community about this matter.

CZ's credit outweighs his mistakes

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju stated in an article on X yesterday that when the intrinsic value of an industry is lower than the capital it absorbs, society often sees it as a 'sin', and in this case, those who establish and participate in the industry are seen as criminals and blame them for the industry's failure to develop correctly.

Ki Young Ju believes that CZ is about to be released from four months of detention, and although he did make mistakes, his detention also carries a certain alternative element, symbolizing the growth pain of the entire industry. Meanwhile, Ki Young Ju also strongly supports CZ's contribution to the industry, which far outweighs his mistakes. Ki Young Ju said:

CZ is a respected businessman. Without Binance, the cryptocurrency industry would not have attracted such massive global liquidity today... In my opinion, CZ's achievements far outweigh his mistakes. He has already paid the fine and his detention period is about to end. This industry should start looking at him with a new perspective

BlockTower founder insists CZ is not a good class

However, there are also people in the industry who hold opposing views towards Ki Young Ju. Ari Paul, founder of venture capital firm BlockTower, commented under his Twitter post that CZ committed crimes similar to SBF, including stealing and misappropriating customer deposits, operating dozens of market manipulation schemes, deceiving retail investors, and assisting criminal groups in money laundering. Ari Paul also cited Reuters reports as evidence in his case and stated that he could be sentenced to life imprisonment if the FBI is willing.

In addition, Ari Paul further explained that there are two possible reasons why CZ could be sentenced to such a light criminal responsibility. The first is that the federal government is concerned that he will bribe UAE chiefs in exchange for sovereign immunity and flee with over $30 billion in user funds; The second is that the federal government wants to obtain a large number of documents from Binance that can reveal more industry insider information.

Regarding this, Ki Young Ju cited the settlement agreement and stated that the US Department of Justice only accused CZ of assisting in money laundering and did not accuse CZ of using customer funds. Ki Young Ju believes that Ari Paul's statement is a presumption of guilt without actual evidence.

At the same time, Wishful Cynic, founder of large market maker Wintermute, told Ari Paul that there is no specific evidence of illegal theft and misappropriation of customer deposits, including SEC allegations, in the documents. At most, it only involves "fund mixing" rather than "theft or misappropriation". Although the two look very similar, SBF clearly crosses the line, and there is currently no evidence to suggest that CZ did the same thing.

Regarding Wishful Cynic's statement, Ari Paul responded by saying:

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'evidence'. If you're referring to him not being convicted in court, that's true... but many Binance executives have confirmed the issues we found in forensic and financial analysis, and you can ask them. Noticing that they will never make a public statement no matter what - this is a result of a mixture of whistleblowers and CZ threats