Binance reaches agreement with the Department of Justice, Zhao Changpeng resigns as CEO, company to pay over $4 billion fine, What information is worth paying attention to?
On Tuesday, Zhao Changpeng, the CEO of Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, arrived at the Federal Court in Seattle, United States As part of a comprehensive agreement reached with the US Department of Justice, Zhao Changpeng will plead guilty to charges related to money laundering and pay a $50 million fine According to media reports on the 22nd, Zhao Changpeng announced his resignation, stating that stepping down at this time is the right move, and he will take responsibility for the mistakes he has made Richard Teng, who has served as a senior executive at Binance for a long time, will replace Zhao Changpeng as the new CEO of Binance Zhao Changpeng also stated that the funds are safe and the settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice does not involve fund misappropriation or market manipulation However, Binance stated that the former CEO, Zhao Changpeng, is still a major shareholder of Binance The newly appointed CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, expressed the desire to provide Binance users with confidence in finance, security, and protection; Binance is stronger than ever before; focusing on cooperation with regulatory agencies; and hoping to drive growth together with partners by adopting Web3 Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice stated that Binance has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $4 billion in fines to US authorities Following the announcement of the above news, the value of Binance Coin dropped by nearly 6% The price of Bitcoin in the past 24 hours decreased by nearly 2%, hovering around $36,800 Breaking News! Former Richest Chinese Announces Resignation, Pleads Guilty, and Pays Huge Fine! US Department of Justice Speaks Out | NBD News
Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance Faces US Lawsuit and Heavy Fine
Now all the pressure is on Sun Yuchen’s side. Don’t forget, Sun Gou is still being sued.
The so-called settlement between Binance and the US Department of Justice this time is more about buying peace by spending money. After paying enough fines, they temporarily secured their safety. Basically, it guarantees that CZ will not follow in SBF’s footsteps. The latter has been sentenced to life imprisonment for charges including embezzlement of funds.
BitMex Research posted on the X platform stating that CZ will be allowed to reside in the UAE while waiting for the verdict. CZ must return to the United States 14 days before the verdict is announced.
In addition, according to WhaleWire, CZ obtained bail with a personal bail amount of $175 million, which is one of the largest bails in history.
Previously, Binance and its CEO CZ admitted guilt to criminal charges of money laundering and violating US sanctions, including allowing transactions with terrorist organizations such as Hamas. This is part of a comprehensive agreement reached with the US Department of Justice to maintain the company’s operations. Binance agreed to plead guilty and pay over $4 billion in fines. CZ agreed to resign and pay a $50 million fine as part of the settlement, and he pleaded guilty in a court in Seattle this Tuesday. The agreement involved the participation of the US Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and it ended the investigation into this cryptocurrency exchange that had lasted for years. The settlement reached through negotiations will resolve all charges of criminal misconduct.
According to Bloomberg, CZ could have faced up to 10 years of imprisonment, but under the plea agreement, he is expected to be sentenced to no more than 18 months in prison. The US Department of Justice has not yet decided how long they will seek to sentence him.
However, according to a press release from the US Treasury Department, as part of the agreement, Binance will completely withdraw from the US market and appoint a supervisor for a period of five years to oversee the exchange’s sanction compliance program. During this period, the US Treasury Department will have access to Binance records and systems. It can be said that through this agreement, Binance has essentially sold all customer transaction information to the United States. Especially with the complete withdrawal from the US market, many investors previously expected that after reaching a settlement, Binance would be able to take over all the business of FTX, the largest exchange in the United States. As a result of this withdrawal, FTT, FTX’s token, has skyrocketed by 15% after the specific details of Binance’s settlement were announced, rising from $1 last month to $3.5. In contrast, BNB, the token of Binance, has been rising recently and has reached a recent high of $260, but it has plummeted all the way down by 14% after the settlement was announced, reaching $228 at present.
In summary, the United States has sued many exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, and OKEx, indicating that they intend to impose huge fines to enrich their finances while gaining control over the cryptocurrency trading market and reaping benefits. The next step is to see what kind of sky-high deal Sun Gou can reach with the United States.
The SEC has been trying to sanction them by claiming that they are Chinese companies. Zhao Changpeng and Sun Yuchen have repeatedly clarified on Twitter that they are not Chinese. However, they did not expect that their fate would not be decided by themselves after eating a few bowls of noodles. Not everyone is Meng Wanzhou, and not every country is China. They are just individuals with Canadian and Grenadian citizenship, like three-year-old children carrying a lot of gold, easily exploited by others.
US fine on Zhao Changpeng is a good thing
For Zhao Changpeng, as long as he is not sentenced to a heavy punishment, the amount of fines doesn’t matter.
It might even be a good thing.
After all, it’s all money from cutting leeks, and fines are like sharing the spoils. According to the usual practice of “one offense, one punishment,” he can still receive a certain amount of protection from the US government in the short term.
By doing so, America has actually reduced the possibility of banning the Bitcoin market, which is good news.
Decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin have no positive value for the world economy, other than facilitating the circulation of illicit money. But it’s cutting leeks from all over the world, and a large amount of money flows into the pockets of the United States through fines. This is a good thing, and the US has no reason to ban it.
As long as the United States does not ban it, Bitcoin has a long-term market base.
Of course, this is only favorable for market manipulators.
For leeks who are obsessed with getting rich through Bitcoin, having one more person with a sickle is definitely not a good thing.
Binance faces penalties in the US for money laundering and sanctions violations. (币安面临美国制裁)
To crack down on leeks in the hands of the United States, one must comply with protective laws
This time, Zhao Changpeng directly pleaded guilty to the charges of money laundering and agreed to pay a fine of 50 million US dollars.
An all-encompassing agreement was reached with the US Department of Justice, but at present, Binance has not yet reached a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Binance’s guilty plea in this wave requires a total fine of 4.3 billion US dollars, which includes money from the US Department of Justice,
as well as the amount of civil settlement reached with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Anyway, once the money is in place, this matter should pass.
The various things investigated by the Department of Justice are all about Iran, Russian investors trading on Binance with Americans, it’s mainly about money
The United States is amazing, so many departments, each one can be well-fed, and they all have so many reasons.
Of course, his compromise may allow Binance to continue operating, mainly to stabilize the overall situation
In order to continue operating in the future.
Binance did propose a defense, but it didn’t work
Prosecutors accused Binance of facilitating transactions for sanctioned organizations and encouraging US users to hide their locations to avoid money laundering charges.
They say Binance knew it had millions of American users in 2018, but did not have a plan to detect money laundering or violate sanctions.
Between January 2018 and May 2022, Binance processed transactions worth $899 million between Americans and users believed to be in Iran.
They also said “committing crimes using new technology does not make you a disruptor, it makes you a criminal.”
The United States just wants you to pay money, then this matter will be settled.
So according to the current situation, Zhao Changpeng faces a maximum of 18 months and a minimum of 10-12 months of imprisonment, and he will be sentenced later.
This should not be a big problem, as long as the money is paid, he should be out soon.
In the past year, the United States has carried out a lot of rectification in the field of digital currencies.
They have arrested many people and probably fined them a lot of money.
The current issue is Binance and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
SEC sued Binance in June this year, accusing it of violating the US Investor Protection Act.
This fine is for the US Department of Justice, which means Binance’s money laundering, as well as issues related to individuals from sanctioned countries such as Iran and Russia trading on the platform with Americans.
As for what SEC will do and how much the fine will be, we will continue to follow the drama.
After this wave of rectification, it will definitely benefit the top digital currencies. The United States will not give up this funding pool. They are used for speculation, even though people think they have no value, many international funds will continue to speculate on them.
They may not have investment value, but they have speculative value; there will always be people who trade in them.
It’s definitely difficult for ordinary investors to handle, so it’s better not to touch them randomly.
But these funding pools will not disappear.
Currently, Zhao Changpeng is still a major shareholder of Binance
It’s just that the CEO has changed, and Binance stated that it will continue to focus on cooperation with regulatory agencies and continue operating.
Because of this incident, Binance’s token has fallen by nearly 6%.
This is how the United States troubles these digital currency platforms.
They want to control these funding pools themselves.
The United States aims to become the biggest force and player in this field.
Binance under US control, Bitcoin boom in 2024.
This settlement agreement strengthens the United States' control over cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. The reason for targeting Binance is very simple: the Americans want to control the Bitcoin market, and Binance has consistently had the highest trading volume in the world.
With the removal of Zhao from Binance’s management through the settlement agreement, it is in line with the consistent thinking of the Americans to arrange for Americans to enter, such as having a certain American asset investment fund manager join Binance as an executive.
Don’t be fooled by the settlement agreement causing both Binance Coin and Bitcoin to drop. Once the Americans actually control Binance, a major bull market for Bitcoin will come, with the estimated time being the first half of 2024, coinciding with the start of a rate-cutting cycle by the Federal Reserve.
Ukraine Military Funding: Shocking Revelation
Wow, turns out that Ukraine’s military expenses were paid by him all along. This is outrageous!
Binance CEO sued for regulatory violations in global exchange.
Translation:
It is better to recognize the situation and join the Communist Party early to invest in Hong Kong, so as to avoid paying 4.3 billion dollars and going to prison in the United States:
What information is worth paying attention to regarding the lawsuit against Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, the world’s largest exchange, on the grounds of violating regulatory measures?
Three trustworthy Chinese exchanges: Huobi refunded users, OKEx honored withdrawals, Binance dodged scrutiny. But something fishy with money laundering.
真把华人的希望寄托在翻译上了 The three major Chinese exchanges are quite reliable. Although they have experienced incidents, none of them has ever misappropriated user assets.
During the Huobi era, all Chinese users were able to withdraw their funds in real money, with a 100% cash-out guarantee.
When Xu was arrested and unable to withdraw funds, after being released, he immediately allowed users to withdraw without hesitation, proving that there was no misappropriation and stabilizing the situation.
As for Zhao, he was thoroughly investigated by the United States, but no misappropriation was found. The only issue was poor management of money laundering, resulting in fines and arrests.
However, the criticism is well-founded.
This is protection money, the US is truly a country that upholds the rule of law.
This can be considered as paying protection money. The United States truly lives up to being the country that values the rule of law.
Cryptocurrency Speculators: Just Another Casino
This type of cryptocurrency world is filled with speculators. It is normal for some to profit from taking advantage of others, and it is also normal for others to fall victim to such practices. Speculators are well aware of this.
In this game of not creating wealth, they have to pay the US government $4 billion + $50 million. This money is undoubtedly paid by speculators.
This is a casino where people gamble for overnight fortunes. As for the fines imposed, they can be seen as the house taking its cut.
Title (English): “Law and Money: The Unfair Reality”
Note: The translation of this text into English does not capture the full meaning and context of the original text. This is simply daylight robbery.
But there’s nothing that can be done about it, after all, it’s a case of “ugly people setting the rules” in this country.
Laws can be changed at will, and money can be snatched freely.