Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, founder of crypto exchange Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison following his guilty plea to violating anti-money laundering laws in November.

Seattle

**Binance Founder Sentenced to Four Months in Prison for Anti-Money Laundering Law Violations**

Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison. This comes after his guilty plea for violating anti-money laundering laws. The plea was entered in November, marking a significant development in a case that has drawn widespread attention to the regulatory scrutiny faced by crypto exchanges globally.

During the proceedings, it was revealed that the sentence handed to Zhao was significantly less than what prosecutors had initially sought. The sentencing guidelines suggested a duration of 12 to 18 months, while prosecutors were aiming for a 36-month prison term. This reduction in sentencing reflects the court's position, which did not fully align with the government's portrayal of Zhao's actions as a deliberate attempt to circumvent anti-money laundering regulations through Binance.

Furthermore, as part of his guilty plea, Zhao has agreed to pay a substantial fine of $50 million. This penalty is separate from a larger plea deal involving his company, amounting to $4.3 billion, related to various admissions by Binance of facilitating the transfer of money among prohibited entities. These developments highlight the broader issues within the cryptocurrency industry regarding compliance with anti-money laundering norms and the enforcement actions being undertaken to address these challenges.

Zhao's plea specifically acknowledged the failure to have an adequate anti-money laundering program in place at Binance. This narrower plea contrasts with the broader range of illicit activities Binance admitted to in its corporate plea deal. The case against Zhao and Binance underscores the ongoing regulatory and legal challenges faced by the cryptocurrency sector in ensuring compliance with established financial laws and norms.



Binance founder gets four months in prison

Binance founder, CZ, sentenced to four months in prison on anti-money laundering charges. Joining us from Morris Bloomberg News reporter David Gura. Okay, David, walk us through the perspective here. Four months. Yes. Much less than the prosecution wanted. The sentencing guidelines were 12 to 18 months. The prosecution wanted 36 months in total. So four months is radically less than what they had hoped for. And the judge, when he was handing down this sentence, was largely unsympathetic to the argument that the government made that this was a calculated decision by Cheng Pengzhou, by CZ, to evade money laundering rules, to not have a money laundering program in place at Binance. So a slap on the wrist, I think you could characterize it as in terms of what it might have been otherwise. And we should point out, I mean, he pled guilty to these charges, anti-money laundering charges, and there was another charge in there I'm forgetting here, and he agreed to pay a pretty hefty fine. Yeah, $50 million. And I think what's tricky about this is it's entangled with this other plea deal that the company made for $4.3 billion. So in that is a swirl of all of the things that Binance admitted to doing, that is facilitating a lot of transfer of money among illegal entities. He very narrowly pleaded to this charge of just not having this money laundering program, anti-money laundering program in place. So all of that exists on the sidelines, but his was much narrower than that.

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