On Tuesday, November 21st, the founder of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, admitted guilt to a felony charge, acknowledging that he neglected to implement measures to prevent money laundering. Concurrently, Binance agreed to a payment exceeding $4 billion, settling an investigation by the U.S. government.
In a federal court in Seattle, CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a single count of failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. Binance operates as a limited liability company in the Cayman Islands.
The admission of guilt coincides with the company’s commitment to pay over $4 billion in accordance with an agreement reached with the U.S. government, as disclosed by an anonymous source familiar with the arrangement. The charge mirrors issues uncovered following the collapse of the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, in the previous year.
For previous Targetnews stories about the Binance case, please click here, here, and here.
