Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been sentenced to four months in prison. Judge Richard Jones, w

Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison

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2024-04-30 23:30:05

Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been sentenced to four months in prison.

Judge Richard Jones, who presided over the sentencing hearing in the Western District of Washington on Tuesday, handed down a lighter sentence than the three years petitioned by the prosecution.

In November, Zhao—better known as CZ—pleaded guilty to willfully violating anti-money-laundering rules that enabled hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions involving US-sanctioned entities, including Iran and Cuba, to pass through the Binance platform. The plea deal required Zhao to step down as Binance chief executive and accept a $150 million fine, and for the company to pay a $4.3 billion penalty.

“Zhao’s willful violation of US law was no accident or oversight,” the US Department of Justice wrote in a court filing ahead of the sentencing. “He made a business decision that violating US law was the best way to attract users, build his company, and line his pockets.”

In the filing, prosecutors requested that Zhao receive a 36-month prison sentence, pointing to the need to “deter others who are tempted to build fortunes and business empires by breaking US law.” Zhao’s legal counsel asked for probation, on the grounds that no defendant in a comparable case “has ever been sentenced to incarceration.”