Binance crypto boss Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months in prison (2024)
By Liv McMahon,Technology reporter
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The founder of the world's largest crypto exchange has been sentenced to four months in prison in the US for allowing criminals to launder money on his platform.
Changpeng Zhao resigned from Binance in November and pleaded guilty to violating US money laundering laws.
Binance was ordered to pay $4.3bn (£3.4bn) after a US investigation found it helped users bypass sanctions.
Prosecutors had sought a three-year sentence for the former Binance boss.
At a sentencing hearing on Tuesday in Seattle, Judge Richard Jones said Zhao put "Binance's growth and profits over compliance with US laws and regulations", according to the Verge.
US officials said in November that Binance and Zhao's "wilful violations" of its laws had threatened the US financial system and national security.
"Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit," said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
"Its wilful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform."
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 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.
You may use the loan for any purpose, including trading on the spot market, depositing into Binance Earn products, or even withdrawing them from Binance. The collateral pledged will remain with Binance Flexible Loan as security for the return of the Digital Assets you've borrowed.
Flexible Savings is a Binance financial product that allows you to utilize your idle crypto assets and earn daily interest, with the ability to redeem your funds at any time.
Binance's billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao has reported to a low-security federal prison in Lompoc, California. Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison in April after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange.
Investors withdrew as much as $3 billion from Binance on Tuesday, according to blockchain analytics firm Nansen, as a deluge of negative headlines about the cryptocurrency industry rattled users of the world's largest exchange.
Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency firm Binance, has become the world's richest prisoner after he was sentenced to four months in jail on Tuesday, the Telegraph reported. Mr Zhao was sentenced by a Seattle Court after pleading guilty to violations of US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws last year.
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.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act during his time at the crypto exchange. The Department of Justice (DOJ) sought a three-year prison sentence, while CZ's lawyers requested probation instead.
Binance restricts withdrawals for various reasons, including abnormal user profiles, transaction patterns, operating behavior, devices, or environmental factors. For example, Binance may temporarily disable your account's withdrawals if you repeatedly send funds to a blacklisted address.
Withdrawing funds to a bank account is a common practice for many users. First, navigate to the fiat and spot page on the Binance website, where you'll find your fiat balance. Select the currency you wish to withdraw, and choose the bank transfer option from the drop-down menu.
As with other exchanges, Binance users have two choices: They can either keep their funds on the Binance Exchange or withdraw their assets to a self-custodial wallet. Most security-minded crypto users would highly recommend withdrawing any funds from an exchange that you don't intend to trade.
The bottom line is that Binance does not hold users' fiat currency balances. These are always held by regulated partners that work with us to provide fiat on- and off-ramp services to our users. Despite that, we do everything we can to ensure our users' funds remain protected at all times.
Binance is generally considered one of the safest cryptocurrency exchanges available. It has implemented extensive security measures, including two-factor authentication (2FA) and offline storage facilities. That said, Binance has had a few security breaches in the past.
Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance's head of financial crimes compliance, was charged with both tax evasion and money laundering along with his employer. Gambaryan is “very ill and requires comprehensive medical attention,” his lawyer said in a letter to trial judge Emeka Nwite, a Reuters report said.
Liquidations occur when a trader's position is automatically closed by an exchange like Binance because the trade's value has fallen to a level where it no longer covers the required margin—essentially, a fail-safe to prevent a negative balance.
The live price of Bitcoin is $ 67,720.40 per (BTC / USD) with a current market cap of $ 1,334.55B USD. 24-hour trading volume is $ 11.16B USD. BTC to USD price is updated in real-time. Bitcoin is +0.2% in the last 24 hours with a circulating supply of 19.71M.
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