©Reuters
UNITED STATES – A federal judge in Seattle recently ordered Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, to stay in the United States. The move comes after Mr. Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering charges. His sentencing is scheduled for the end of February.
Zhao’s plea was part of a deal reached with U.S. authorities, which was made public last Tuesday. He admitted to violating anti-money laundering laws in a social media post. Following his resignation, Richard Teng took over as CEO of Binance.
The agreement includes heavy fines for Binance, amounting to more than $4 billion, which will be paid to various agencies of the US Treasury. In addition to criminal charges, Binance is also facing civil charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). These lawsuits allege that the company had insufficient anti-money laundering protocols and customer identification processes, which allegedly enabled transactions by terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and the military wing of Hamas.
The fallout from these legal issues marks a significant turning point for Binance, which has been a prominent player in the cryptocurrency market. The implications of these events are likely to have a lasting impact on the Company’s operations and the cryptocurrency industry in general, as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.
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