5 June 2023: The SEC sues Binance
On June 5, 2023 the SEC sued Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, and founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging unregistered securities offerings and mishandling of customer funds. Its BNB token fell sharply. Later that year Binance and Zhao pleaded guilty to separate criminal charges, paid billions in penalties, and Zhao stepped down as CEO. The crypto industry's regulatory gray zone was shrinking quickly.
The lesson: Regulatory risk is real risk; a business built in legal gray areas can change overnight.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in BNB at the start of 2020 → $42,857 today, vs $2,092 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 2020, the latest year on the wheel. That is 42.9 times the money, and $40,765 more than a plain index fund made over the same years.
What BNB teaches: An exchange token is a concentrated bet on one company and its founder, without the legal claims of a shareholder; survival depends on trust in that firm.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $8.00 | $75,000 | $2,519 |
| 2020 | $14.00 | $42,857 | $2,092 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought BNB? Every starting year and the full story →
More BNB history
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
Play Sixty-40