Saturday, February 24, 2024 – The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance Holdings Ltd (BHL) has been ordered to pay $4.3 billion for violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws in a settlement approved by a United States judge.
On Friday, February 23, US District Judge Richard Jones in
Washington state approved a plea agreement between Binance and federal
prosecutors, which called for the company to pay a fine of $1.8 billion and
forfeiture of $2.5 billion.
“Binance profited from the US
financial system without playing by its rules and, as a result, criminals used
the exchange to move hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen funds and
illicit proceeds,” the government said in its sentencing memorandum.
It also stated that the penalty was the largest ever imposed
against a money services business and was “commensurate with the severity of
Binance’s criminal conduct.”
As part of a settlement reached in November, Binance chief
executive Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money laundering
laws and agreed to step down from his position.
Binance was created in 2017 and took over the crypto-trading
market, turning Zhao into a billionaire.
Binance operates crypto exchanges and provides other
services around the world, but it has taken a severe hit since crypto markets
collapsed and regulators began probing the legality of its business.
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