Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Resigns As Binance CEO: Handed 4-Month Prison - Forbes India (2024)

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Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Resigns As Binance CEO: Handed 4-Month Prison - Forbes India? ›

Zhao pleaded guilty to only a single criminal count. He admitted that he had failed to establish an adequate anti-money-laundering system at Binance, resigned as the company's chief executive and agreed to a $50 million fine.

Zhao is the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume as of July 2024. He resigned as the CEO in November 2023 after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge in the United States and was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024. As of Aug.

A US judge has sentenced crypto kingpin Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, to four months in prison for breaking anti-money-laundering rules. Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been sentenced to four months in prison.

Binance's billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange.

CZ's upward revision has two components. First, his 90% equity stake in Binance, the large crypto exchange, is valued at $33 billion despite CZ stepping down as CEO in November 2023 as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in which he pled guilty to anti-money laundering and sanctions violations.

Zhao is the founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency-exchange by volume. The company offers markets in more than 360 cryptocurrencies and has said it has over 150 million users. Zhao was sentenced to four months jail in April 2024 after pleading guilty to anti-money laundering violations.

Binance, one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, has officially registered with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND). This registration is significant because it allows Binance to operate legally in India by complying with local regulations, specifically anti-money laundering (AML) rules.

SEATTLE, April 30 (Reuters) - Changpeng Zhao, the former chief executive of Binance, was sentenced on Tuesday to four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. laws against money laundering at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, has started a four-month prison sentence in Lompoc, California, for not preventing money laundering on the exchange. Zhao pleaded guilty and received a lighter sentence than prosecutors had sought. He also agreed to pay a $50 million fine.

Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading software. Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan shortly before the Chinese government restricted cryptocurrency companies.

What is CZ crime? ›

Zhao, a resident of the United Arab Emirates who is known as “CZ,” is free on a $175 million release bond in the United States. Zhao pleaded guilty on Nov. 21 to a charge of failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, which he founded.

In April, a federal judge sentenced CZ to four months in prison – a much shorter sentence than the three years federal prosecutors requested, but more than other crypto executives like former BitMex CEO Arthur Hayes received for the same crime.

CZ currently has around 1,800 employees. It is one of the highest volume exporters in the Czech Republic, sending its products to more than 100 countries. The company is among the top ten small arms manufacturers in the world and five that manufactures automatic firearms.

Still, Zhao will enter the history books as the richest person ever to do time in US federal lockup since his ownership of Binance — and an estimated $43 billion personal fortune tied to it — remain intact. His wealth is likely to grow even bigger as Binance's business accelerates amid crypto's latest bull run.

So, who are the top holders of BTC? According to the Bitcoin research and analysis firm River Intelligence, Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator behind Bitcoin, is listed as the top BTC holder as of 2024. The company notes that Satoshi Nakamoto holds about 1.1m BTC tokens in about 22,000 different addresses.

Binance: Since Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange, it makes sense that the company's cold storage wallets have large amounts of BTC. Currently, the largest single BTC wallet with 252,597 BTC belongs to Binance.

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced on Tuesday to four months in prison after pleading guilty last year to charges that he failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

Changpeng Zhao, the former head of the world's largest cryptocurrency trading company, was sentenced to four months in jail on Tuesday in a Seattle courtroom. Zhao pleaded guilty late last year to money-laundering violations and stepped down as CEO of Binance. The company itself was fined $4.3bn.

Authorities charged CZ with multiple violations related to Binance's operations in the US. He stepped down from his position as the CEO of Binance in November 2023 and Richard Teng took his chair. In May 2024, a court sentenced him to four months in jail for financial crimes.

Changpeng Zhao, the former chief executive of Binance, was sentenced on Tuesday to four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating US money-laundering laws at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.