Security News > 2023 > November > Binance and CEO admit financial crimes, billions coughed up to US govt

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange just got a little smaller, with the US Department of Justice announcing Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have both pleaded guilty to a multitude of financial crimes.

According to a criminal case [PDF] unsealed Tuesday, Binance failed to register as a money services business in the United States, broke the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement and maintain an anti-money laundering program, and violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by allowing US users to transact with individuals in sanctioned countries.

According to a 2019 chat message sent by Zhao to the Binance team, he knew full well his company was violating the law, too.

"If we blocked US users from day 1, Binance will be not [sic] as big as we are today," Zhao said in the chat, according to Uncle Sam.

Zhao will be paying penalties of his own, with $150 million owed to the CFTC. Zhao is also stepping down from his role as CEO of Binance, he confirmed in a post on X shortly after the DoJ press conference, announcing that Binance's former global head of regional markets, Richard Teng, would be immediately taking over.

Zhao's statement made little mention of the reason for his resignation, but he did note that the guilty pleas didn't include any allegations that Binance misappropriated customer funds or engaged in market manipulation.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/11/22/binance_ceo_settlement/