Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison for facilitating money laundering on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The AP reported this, citing the court’s decision. Prosecutors had originally sought 36 months for him.
Confession
Zhao pleaded guilty in November to failing to take the required anti-money laundering measures. He resigned from Binance’s board and the firm agreed to pay a $4.3 billion settlement.
The prosecution alleged that Zhao deliberately looked the other way when people conducted transactions that promoted child sexual abuse, illegal drug trafficking and terrorism.
“That’s where I failed,” Zhao said before sentencing. “I deeply regret and regret my failure,” he added.
Binance
Zhao, a Canadian entrepreneur of Chinese descent who is also known as CZ in the industry by the initial letters of his name, founded Binance in 2017 in Shanghai and gradually built it into the most important hub of the global cryptocurrency market. Its main exchange, Binance.com, is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world – it processed about $23 trillion worth of trades the year before last, according to CryptoCompare.
Zhao’s attorneys have insisted that he should not receive any jail time. But prosecutors say no one has ever violated the Bank Secrecy Act to the extent that Zhao has. Binance has facilitated more than 1.5 million virtual currency trades worth nearly $900 million in violation of U.S. sanctions, they said.
Source: Czech Press Office
