Crypto Billionaires’ Wealth Crushed by SEC After Big 2023 Bounce

It was a great year for crypto billionaires — until this week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s crackdown on Binance Holdings Ltd. and Coinbase Global Inc. — the largest crypto platforms in the world and the US, respectively — has upended the optimism that crept back into digital-asset markets after the miserable “crypto winter” of 2022.

Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, has seen his wealth shrink by $1.4 billion to $26 billion over the past two days, while Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s net worth has slumped by $361 million to $2.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The SEC sued both companies for ...