United States Department of Justice representatives declared that Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the CEO of Binance, will enter a guilty plea to a single felony charge following a $4.3B settlement involving the exchange and various criminal and civil cases.
During a press conference on November 21, Attorney General Merrick Garland declared that CZ submitted his plea in person in a federal court in the United States despite residing outside the country.
He further stated that Binance and CZ would be required to pay a $4.3 billion settlement to address “civil regulatory enforcement actions” conducted by the U.S. Treasury and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), among others.
Garland claims that the policies of Binance enabled perpetrators engaged in unlawful activities to transfer “stolen funds” via the exchange. According to his claim, the exchange “pretended to comply” with federal laws in the United States by providing access routes to Binance for specific users with connections to illicit funds.
The Attorney General stated that the exchange would be required to submit suspicious activity reports for previous transactions and would be subject to monitoring and reporting requirements.
“Binance prioritized its profits over the safety of the American people,” according to Garland. “Using new technology to break the law does not make you a disruptor — it makes you a criminal.”
In continuation of Garland’s remarks, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that Binance would enter into a settlement agreement wherein it would remit penalties exceeding $3.4 billion to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and approximately $1 billion to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Under the proposed settlement, according to CFTC chair Rostin Behnam, Binance would pay $2.7 billion in civil monetary penalties and disgorgement, CZ would pay $150 million, and former compliance chief Samuel Lin would pay $1.5 million. Because of the latter resolutions, the Justice Department will allocate an estimated $1.8 billion in credit.
Binance expressed “pleasure” with the resolution reached with U.S. authorities in a blog post dated November 21, asserting that the exchange “always maintained [its] fundamental principles of user security and safety.” CZ announced his resignation as CEO on X; Richard Teng, the global director of regional markets for Binance, will succeed him.
CZ stated, “I must accept responsibility for my errors.” “This is in the best interest of our community, Binance, and myself […] For the past six and a half years, I have not had a single day of genuine (phone off) vacation.”
As per the sealed indictment against CZ dated November 14, the CEO of Binance was charged with one count of failing to uphold a proficient anti-money laundering program at the cryptocurrency exchange, thereby contravening the Bank Secrecy Act.
Following mutual agreement between the parties involved, Prosecutors achieved the retention of court records about the allegations levied against Binance CZ under seal from November 14 to November 21.
The resolution between Binance and U.S. officials essentially concluded a substantial portion of the civil and criminal inquiries that had been ongoing for several months.
In June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Binance, Binance.US, and CZ with securities law violations. A civil case against the cryptocurrency exchange is unresolved at this time.