- BNB hit a record high as Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao began his prison term.
- Zhao’s net worth, mostly comprising BNB, grew to $38.5B.
- Strong trading activity and Binance’s dominance in BNB trading.
A bittersweet rally
Binance’s native token, BNB, hit a record value as the exchange’s co-founder Changpeng Zhao began a US prison term, according to Bloomberg.
BNB’s price jumped to US$717.99 as of June 7 from a US$620.49 low on June 3, taking its market value to US$109 billion, although it has since cooled down to US$666.95 as of writing.
Binance users enjoy trading fee discounts by holding BNB, and the token also settles transaction costs on BNB Smart Chain, a blockchain utilized by many cryptocurrency apps.
The Zhao effect
Dessislava Aubert, an analyst at crypto market analytics company Kaiko, told Bloomberg that BNB’s price jump followed strong trading activity in the BNB derivatives market since late May, with buying outpacing selling in early June.
Over a dozen centralized exchanges support BNB trading, but Binance generates 85% of global BNB trading volume.
Zhao went to a California prison on money laundering charges and agreed to a US$50 million personal fine.
His estimated net worth is about US$38.5 billion, having grown by US$4.1 billion year to date. In a 2021 interview, Zhao disclosed that his wealth mostly comprises BNB, and he owns a significant Binance stake.
During BNB’s 2017 initial coin offering, the Binance founding team, including Zhao, received 80 million tokens valued around US$56 billion today.
To read the original article: https://www.techinasia.com/binance-token-bnb-jumps-cz-begins-jail-term
