Binance CEO “CZ” sentenced to four months in prison

Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ,” founder and CEO of crypto exchange Binance, was sentenced to four months in prison.

Six days ago, the The US Department of Justice had recommended that Zhao be sentenced to 36 months in prisonwhat would have beenwell above the possible 18 months stipulated in his plea agreement,” according to Coin Office.

Last November, Zhao resigned from his leadership role and pleaded guilty to a number of violations committed by the Department of Justice and other U.S. agencies.

At the time, Binance admitted that it had “engaged in anti-money laundering, unlicensed money transfer, and sanctions violations,” the DOJ said, calling it “more major corporate resolution” including criminal charges against a manager. Zhao had pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program.

Binance, Zhao and other related parties “knowingly failed to register as a money services business” and violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement an anti-banking program. money laundering, deposit on the charges indicated. He added that the respective parties allegedly violated US economic sanctions “in a deliberate and calculated effort to take advantage of the US market”, without respecting US laws.

Binance was launched in June 2017 and within 180 days became the world's largest crypto exchange. It recorded a trading volume of over $22.7 billion in the last 24 hours, significantly higher than the $3.1 billion trading volume of the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, according to CoinMarketCap. data.