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- Zhao is expected to appear in a Seattle federal court on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to plead guilty to the charges.
- In the last 24 hours, it had a trading volume of over $11.6 billion, more than 515% above the $1.9 billion trading volume of the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
- In late March, the CFTC also filed a lawsuit against Binance, Zhao, and Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim, accusing them of violating trading and derivative rules.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, agrees to pay a fine and the CEO of the exchange, Changpeng Zhao, accepts the accusations and resigns.
CEO Changpeng Zhao is Leaving His Position
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is accepting a fine and its CEO Changpeng Zhao is resigning, according to a new report. CEO Changpeng Zhao, or “CZ,” is reportedly planning to leave the company guilty of charges brought by the Department of Justice for violations of US anti-money laundering regulations.
Zhao is expected to appear in a Seattle federal court on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to plead guilty to the charges. Binance is also expected to pay a $4.3 billion fine. The DOJ will hold a press conference today to discuss the Binance case in more detail.
Binance, launched in June 2017, became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange within 180 days. In the last 24 hours, it had a trading volume of over $11.6 billion, more than 515% above the $1.9 billion trading volume of the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
This comes within a day of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing charges against Kraken, the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume, for allegedly operating as an “unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and swap execution facility.”
Additionally, in February, Kraken agreed to end crypto staking services for US customers and settled a past lawsuit with the SEC, agreeing to pay $30 million in “restitution, estimated interest, and civil penalties.”
DOJ charges against Binance came about five months after the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused the exchange and Zhao of lying to regulators about its operations; the regulator brought 13 charges in the federal case. Zhao and Binance are accused of being “identical” in directing the operations of the trading entity and being “identical” in providing crypto-related services to the Binance US platform, according to the SEC filing.
CFTC also filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder
In late March, the CFTC also filed a lawsuit against Binance, Zhao, and Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim, accusing them of violating trading and derivative rules. Binance featured in headlines last year due to Zhao’s comments contributing to the downfall of one of its biggest competitors, FTX. In April, Binance’s American sister company Binance US backed out of its $1.3 billion deal to acquire the assets of crypto broker Voyager Digital, citing a “hostile and uncertain regulatory environment.”
In August, Checkout.com cut ties with Binance due to alleged money laundering, sanctions, and compliance control issues. At the time, a spokesperson for Binance said, “We do not agree with Checkout’s claimed reason for termination of the agreement and are exploring legal options for what it believes to be a hostile and uncertain regulatory environment.”