After he and Binance resolved charges with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in November 2023, Zhao is expected to be sentenced on April 30.

Executive Changpeng "CZ" Zhao sent a letter on Tuesday to the judge supervising his case, apologising for his "poor decisions" and taking "full responsibility" for his acts.

After he and Binance resolved charges with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in November 2023, Zhao is due to be sentenced on April 30. Even though Zhao had previously waived his right to appeal a sentence of up to 18 months, the DOJ has now requested a 36-month term.

Zhao wrote a letter to Richard A. Jones, the U.S. Judge for the Western District of Washington, stating, "There is no excuse." for my failure to establish the necessary compliance controls at Binance” and gave an assurance that this would be his only “encounter with the criminal justice system.”

Going forward, Zhao said, he wanted to support biotech startups and the youth. Along with Zhao’s letter, there were 161 other letters of support seeking leniency from family members, friends and others

Zhao’s sister, Jessica Zhao, who was a former Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, said that although her brother has made mistakes, he lives to do well for others. She cited the example of the FTX fallout and said Zhao ensured Binance never misused any customer funds.

He Yi, another Binance co-founder and mother of CZ’s three children, wrote, “If the cryptocurrency industry is compared to the Wild West, then CZ is the guardian of this wilderness.”

“Even the U.S. has not decided how to regulate and define this industry,” Yi wrote. As a founder who has never managed a company of this size, he was sure to encounter blind spots.”

Zhao's wife Yang Weiqing, who raised two children with him, used the example of Binance's 2018 donation of tens of millions of yen to Japan's disaster-stricken districts, even though the company had only pulled out of the country a few months earlier.

Ryan and Rachel Zhao, who are both enrolled in American institutions, gave the judge examples of their father's encouragement and requested that Zhao's character not be defined by this one instance alone.

Tigran Gambaryan, Head of Financial Crime Compliance at Binance and a former special agent in the US Department of Treasury, sent a noteworthy letter of support.

Gambaryan is now being held in a Nigerian jail due to a disagreement between Binance and Nigeria. Prior to his arrest, on January 1, 2024, the letter was composed.

“While acknowledging CZ’s prior missteps, I can attest to his integrity, business insight, and philanthropic actions have had a ripple effect, influencing not only Binance’s corporate philosophy but also positively impacting lives globally,” Gambaryan wrote.

Letters of support also came from Max S. Baucus, former U.S. Ambassador to China, Professor Jeremy R. Cooperstock, McGill University, Associate Professor Ronghui Gu, Columbia University, Morgan Stanley Managing Director Sean Yang, and members of the ruling family in the United Arab Emirates.