CEO Changpeng Zhao of crypto platform Binance would resign and plead guilty to violations of US anti-money laundering regulations. This deal would allow the company to continue functioning. The Wall Street Journal reports this based on sources in the file.
Changpeng Zhao is due to appear in a federal court in Seattle in northwestern Washington state on Tuesday afternoon local time. He would enter his guilty plea there. His company Binance would further plead guilty to a criminal complaint and agree to a billion-dollar fine totaling 4.3 billion euros.
The deal would put an end to the long investigation into Binance, the company that Changpeng Zhao founded in 2017. It is considered the most important international crypto hub. The deal would allow the CEO to retain a majority stake, albeit without an executive role in management. The man himself would later be sentenced for the violations.
At the end of August it was announced that Binance will remain active in Belgium through a Polish license. Financial regulator FSMA ordered Binance at the end of June to discontinue its crypto services in Belgium and to transfer all funds back to its customers. The crypto platform operated illegally in our country “from countries that are not members of the European Economic Area”.