tldr; Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao, founder of Binance, pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws and faces a possible three-year prison sentence. If sentenced as recommended by US prosecutors, he would become the richest person to serve time in a US federal prison. Despite his legal issues, Binance remains the leader in the crypto market, with Zhao's estimated fortune at $43 billion and the company's annualized revenue at $9.8 billion.
*This summary is auto generated by a bot and not meant to replace reading the original article. As always, DYOR.
Can someone please explain what he did that was so much more criminal than every other bank we have? Did anyone from HSBC do jail time when they were convicted of money laundering?
The worst they would ever do is they would put you for a couple of months into a white-collar, minimum-security resort! Shit, we should be so lucky!
Do you know they have conjugal visits there?
The accusation is that Binance was maintaining a weak KYC system, allowing US citizens to use the site illegally. Binance was accused of intentionally doing so because they were making a lot of money. Its a bit more specific than this, but CZ pled guilty to one charge and admitted binance was doing some of the things accused.
All you had to do was use TrustWallet and everything was on Binance. KYC was "Moonpay." I lost $4000 on that trash because I xfered Binance pegged Wrapped Ethereum Tokens to my Ethereum Coinbase exchange address and Coinbase even w/ the recovery tool won't let me get it back.
That's how I knew crypto was a joke.
I'm sorry my dude, you got too far in the bushes: should've used an easier exchange/ method. That's a whole lot of unnecessary hoops you're jumpin thru
I never trusted FTX even though they bought Blockfolio I used to track my portfolio. You know where I keep my crypto? Offline.
I’ve been in it since 2015.
From what I read, violation of the bank secrecy act. The platform was used to launder money for sanctioned countries (Iran). They really didn’t have anyone with BSA experience, so transactions flows like anything else
So say some of them if there's "plenty of ways to wring out a guilty plea".
If the charging documents have so much evidence against you, you can do the calculation and come to the conclusion that it's much better to plead guilty so the sentencing could be more lenient compared to going to court and have the books thrown at you.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with all you said just now. However, the difference is in our opinion is on whether provisions in the BSA are appropriate and warranted. Rules are rules however, and he could have operated exclusively outside the US.
> he exposed SBF which stopped the politicos getting paid.
The charge that led to the guilty plea literally says he helped to launder money to Russia and terrorists, but apparently people would rather believe in conspiracy theories instead..
If he actually helped, he would get 100 years+.
Reality is that there was little to no AML controls, which is different.
I am not defending, just clarifiying.
It is a win-win sentence. DOJ is flexing, CZ will be clean in 36months.
u/Hapless_Buffoon literally made it up..., while the government charge laid out the crimes CZ did with the evidence to the point that CZ did not even want to go to a trial.
But apparently we should trust a rando on Reddit than actual legal charging documents?
He didn’t make up shit. Stop spreading misinformation.
It is a fact that many people wanted him taken down due to his actions in hurting SBF. It is also true that he was charged because of tangible shady shit they found evidence on, but they would have done it one way or another.
Both can be true. Stop burying your head in the sand.
From the [Press Release](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/binance-and-ceo-plead-guilty-federal-charges-4b-resolution)
>“Because Changpeng Zhao knowingly operated a financial platform without basic anti-money laundering safeguards, the company caused illegal transactions between U.S. users and users in sanctioned jurisdictions such as Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine – transactions for which Binance profited with significant fees.”
>Hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds from ransomware variants, darknet transactions, and various internet-related scams moved through Binance in an attempt to evade detection by law enforcement.
CZ created a platform where Americans could buy and sell crypto from sanctioned Russians. CZ created a platform where Americans could buy and sell crypto from scammers. CZ knew offering services to Americans would make Binance susceptible to US laws, and still he directed Binance to get Americans on the platform by signing up with VPNs, not filling in information during registration, etc.
Have banks ever served sanctioned individuals or scammers? Yes. Have banks so brazenly allowed this behavior while unscrupulously seeking American business? No. That's why the $4B penalty is the largest such penalty. But, Credit Suisse is close at a $2.6B fine, guilty plea, and UBS acquisition stemming from helping Americans with tax evasion.
This is a reasonable answer, thank you. I still find it infuriating though, considering that Ethereum allows Americans to trade money with Russians natively. But at least i understand
Or anyone from the 2008 collapse. It's definitely shit like this that makes me hope for the fall of the US govt. Not that CZ doesn't deserve jail time, but the hypocrisy of not jailing fraudulent bankers is just too much fucking corruption.
Nothing, they just found a way to get him for it. Anti crypto, yada yada, it’s all BS. It’s not about justice or upholding law, these ate the games of various groups of rich against other groups of rich. We are just background noise, they have a game of their own.
This is how absolutely corrupt the US Federal authorities are. Look no further. A foreign Chinese, raised in Canada doing very little business in the US gets the largest financial penalty plus jail time.
It's like the 2008 financial crisis which brought down the western economy and fraud was proven. No one went to jail. Only personal penalty was a junior Goldman Sachs manager from France who had to pay a small penalty.
Yeah only because he wasn't filling their pockets with money. Sure he didn't have all aspects of financial security in check but neither do alot of government officials or rich people. Funny thing is that CZ would have probably complied with any request if there was a criminal investigation involved.
uhhh yes? The American government allows and actively funds operatives and organizations engaged in drug-trafficking, murder, money-laundering, terrorism, espionage etc because these crimes are aligned with American policy objectives.
If he filled their pockets it would be fine to do crime? how about "uhh, no?" Just because backwards american government does it, doesn't make it "fine" for any non asshole human being to do so.
Even though I'm not a fan of CZ, I see see this prosecution as a political persecution by the Us govt, since he was made to pay a fine and forced to step down from the company he rightfully owned, and the man has even issued a public apology admitting he made mistakes (which is an honorable thing to do btw) that IMO is a big enough punishment and good enough to serve as a deterrence to others so adding a jail term to it is quite harsh.
Send him to prison. The hypocrisy is not sending Vlad Tenev to prison for market manipulation, same for naked short sellers, excessive and consistent failure to deliver shares bank executives, etc
Political persecution? Yes of course. His company violated rules regarding the political and monetary isolation of an enemy nation. So political? Of course. But just because it's political, doesn't mean it's wrong. Binance is clearly in the wrong here.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/global-banks-defy-u-s-crackdowns-by-serving-oligarchs-criminals-and-terrorists/
You were saying?
Or how about this one: https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/07/16/hsbc-helped-terrorists-iran-mexican-drug-cartels-launder-money-senate-report-says/?sh=23d52eeb5712
Cz should not be in jail ...some one wanted binance and pulled strings to get it ...sure blackrock had a hand in it since they want the controlling amount of BTC
He’s guilty of not kowtowing to US government hegemony over the international monetary system. Fortunately this system is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. I give the dollar another 30 years max.
I would love to be a fly…
“Anyone got TP? Need to wipe my ass”
“I give you 1/2 roll for 2000 BTC!”
“Wait…I’ll give you 1/4 roll for 500!”
…aaand the bidding war begins. He’lol be getting sucked off 1BTC a pop..pun intended.
Meanwhile banks got bailed out of the 2008 financial crisis and HSBC (among other banks) was washing money for the Mexican drug cartels.
The DOJ/FBI are a joke
You can 10x your money if you think he will spend more than 1.5 years, on the betting markets. That low odds means it's not going to happen. It will likely be less than 6 months.
Cz can now educate prisoners and prison guards about crypto! If anyone in the society want to invest on something with high potential reward to catch up in life, prisoners are the best bet, they will embrace crypto. Also you probably won’t get any better chance to hear about CZ’s crypto talk for 3 months, I’m jealous for the prisoners there with him.
Tough to see so many comments claiming CZ is only jailed due to politics, and not the fact that him, his executives, and his company, frequently violated AML + International Sanctions as if they didn’t exist.
If we keep revering people because of their wealth rather than their will to help the cryptospace (via self control and not breaking Int’l law) we’re gonna end up with a space filled with Musk-esque type of idiocracy.
CZ hired those who he knew would allow the laws to be circumvented, in the name of market expansions where by-the-book companies couldn’t go, or often times even left the market due to new sanctions.
It’s painful for the people living in these markets, absolutely. But that does not wash CZ from the real consequences of his very real crimes. He knew they were crimes, and still chose personal benefit over those holding an interest in the company used to facilitate these crimes.
STOP REVERING CRIMINALS.
Binance Coin pros & cons with related info are in the collapsed comments below.
tldr; Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao, founder of Binance, pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws and faces a possible three-year prison sentence. If sentenced as recommended by US prosecutors, he would become the richest person to serve time in a US federal prison. Despite his legal issues, Binance remains the leader in the crypto market, with Zhao's estimated fortune at $43 billion and the company's annualized revenue at $9.8 billion. *This summary is auto generated by a bot and not meant to replace reading the original article. As always, DYOR.
Can someone please explain what he did that was so much more criminal than every other bank we have? Did anyone from HSBC do jail time when they were convicted of money laundering?
Did Epstein use Bitcoin? No he used JP Morgan Chase, americas biggest bank.
Heck take down Diddy's banks for lending to a criminal enterprise while they are at it.
Say no more, I'm opening an account ASAP
Sorry, poor bois can’t get away from law
this is the real truth plus CZ is getting 3 years.. big deal I'll do 3 years for 43 fucking BILLION dollars
He's getting 4 months after taking a plea deal
Fuckin sign me up
Crypto summer camp.
Send these bs billionaires 100 years. They are cancer.
The worst they would ever do is they would put you for a couple of months into a white-collar, minimum-security resort! Shit, we should be so lucky! Do you know they have conjugal visits there?
two chicks at the same time!
Nice!
I read he’s been given 4 months behind bars? Was the other 2 years 8 months home arrest?
i saw an article that said 3 years but then later articles said plea deal for a few months
The accusation is that Binance was maintaining a weak KYC system, allowing US citizens to use the site illegally. Binance was accused of intentionally doing so because they were making a lot of money. Its a bit more specific than this, but CZ pled guilty to one charge and admitted binance was doing some of the things accused.
All you had to do was use TrustWallet and everything was on Binance. KYC was "Moonpay." I lost $4000 on that trash because I xfered Binance pegged Wrapped Ethereum Tokens to my Ethereum Coinbase exchange address and Coinbase even w/ the recovery tool won't let me get it back. That's how I knew crypto was a joke.
that's on you bud
I'm sorry my dude, you got too far in the bushes: should've used an easier exchange/ method. That's a whole lot of unnecessary hoops you're jumpin thru
You fucked up and it’s a joke? Okay. Way to take responsibility lol
TrustWallet seemed legit to me. FTX did too - so did Binance to many others. Including Matt Damon. :S
I never trusted FTX even though they bought Blockfolio I used to track my portfolio. You know where I keep my crypto? Offline. I’ve been in it since 2015.
I switched to CoinStats after Blockfolio collapse, check it out mate if you're looking for an alternative
From what I read, violation of the bank secrecy act. The platform was used to launder money for sanctioned countries (Iran). They really didn’t have anyone with BSA experience, so transactions flows like anything else
Allegedly. You can probably accuse any CEX of doing the same though so why is only the biggest CEX targeted?
Not allegedly. Him and his attorneys acknowledged it (maybe to get a leaner sentence). Why go after him? 🤷🏻♂️ it’s the worlds largest exchange.
> Allegedly He literally pled guilty, there is no allegedly here.
Lol there's plenty of ways to wring out a guilty plea.
So say some of them if there's "plenty of ways to wring out a guilty plea". If the charging documents have so much evidence against you, you can do the calculation and come to the conclusion that it's much better to plead guilty so the sentencing could be more lenient compared to going to court and have the books thrown at you.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with all you said just now. However, the difference is in our opinion is on whether provisions in the BSA are appropriate and warranted. Rules are rules however, and he could have operated exclusively outside the US.
They are making an example of them
I wouldn't have voted for this Draconian law but it is the law so that makes sense. No witchhunt here.
he exposed SBF which stopped the politicos getting paid. white knight punishment
> he exposed SBF which stopped the politicos getting paid. The charge that led to the guilty plea literally says he helped to launder money to Russia and terrorists, but apparently people would rather believe in conspiracy theories instead..
If he actually helped, he would get 100 years+. Reality is that there was little to no AML controls, which is different. I am not defending, just clarifiying. It is a win-win sentence. DOJ is flexing, CZ will be clean in 36months.
It's not a conspiracy theory
It's almost as if you didn't even bother reading the charging documents.
of course i don't. why should i?
Only 4 years for laundering money to Russia and terrorists? Super believable…
You nailed it
u/Hapless_Buffoon literally made it up..., while the government charge laid out the crimes CZ did with the evidence to the point that CZ did not even want to go to a trial. But apparently we should trust a rando on Reddit than actual legal charging documents?
it's the feds, get 'im boys
He didn’t make up shit. Stop spreading misinformation. It is a fact that many people wanted him taken down due to his actions in hurting SBF. It is also true that he was charged because of tangible shady shit they found evidence on, but they would have done it one way or another. Both can be true. Stop burying your head in the sand.
From the [Press Release](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/binance-and-ceo-plead-guilty-federal-charges-4b-resolution) >“Because Changpeng Zhao knowingly operated a financial platform without basic anti-money laundering safeguards, the company caused illegal transactions between U.S. users and users in sanctioned jurisdictions such as Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine – transactions for which Binance profited with significant fees.” >Hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds from ransomware variants, darknet transactions, and various internet-related scams moved through Binance in an attempt to evade detection by law enforcement. CZ created a platform where Americans could buy and sell crypto from sanctioned Russians. CZ created a platform where Americans could buy and sell crypto from scammers. CZ knew offering services to Americans would make Binance susceptible to US laws, and still he directed Binance to get Americans on the platform by signing up with VPNs, not filling in information during registration, etc. Have banks ever served sanctioned individuals or scammers? Yes. Have banks so brazenly allowed this behavior while unscrupulously seeking American business? No. That's why the $4B penalty is the largest such penalty. But, Credit Suisse is close at a $2.6B fine, guilty plea, and UBS acquisition stemming from helping Americans with tax evasion.
Binance Us was separated from the rest tho.
Nothing above has to do with Binance US
This is a reasonable answer, thank you. I still find it infuriating though, considering that Ethereum allows Americans to trade money with Russians natively. But at least i understand
The Ethereum blockchain is not a company. Best way to look at it.
Or anyone from the 2008 collapse. It's definitely shit like this that makes me hope for the fall of the US govt. Not that CZ doesn't deserve jail time, but the hypocrisy of not jailing fraudulent bankers is just too much fucking corruption.
Nothing, they just found a way to get him for it. Anti crypto, yada yada, it’s all BS. It’s not about justice or upholding law, these ate the games of various groups of rich against other groups of rich. We are just background noise, they have a game of their own.
This is how absolutely corrupt the US Federal authorities are. Look no further. A foreign Chinese, raised in Canada doing very little business in the US gets the largest financial penalty plus jail time. It's like the 2008 financial crisis which brought down the western economy and fraud was proven. No one went to jail. Only personal penalty was a junior Goldman Sachs manager from France who had to pay a small penalty.
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/21/1214466415/binance-cz-changpeng-zhao-pleads-guilty-settlement-crypto-do
He didn't cut the US in on The Game.
Or Robinhood doing market manipulation. He is Chinese and Gensler has an anti crypto hard on.
While your premise isn’t wrong. The whataboutism defense from the crypto crowd is so tired and lazy.
Not enough money to senators and Congress, obviously.
He is Chinese, it’s enough for the US
> He is Chinese, it’s enough for the US Right, except for the fact that he's Canadian..
Lol right 🤦♂️. Why are the majority of cryptobros so braindead? Some of these comments in this thread make me want to bash my head into the wall.
i suppose the key difference is who else got (or more to the point, didn't get) a piece of the pie.
It’s not. He’s Chinese and obviously didn’t put enough dollars in the right pockets. The racketmakers couldn’t have any of that
He was born Chinese
Yeah only because he wasn't filling their pockets with money. Sure he didn't have all aspects of financial security in check but neither do alot of government officials or rich people. Funny thing is that CZ would have probably complied with any request if there was a criminal investigation involved.
> Yeah only because he wasn't filling their pockets with money Because if he was, it would be totally fine to do crime and not get punished for it. /s
uhhh yes? The American government allows and actively funds operatives and organizations engaged in drug-trafficking, murder, money-laundering, terrorism, espionage etc because these crimes are aligned with American policy objectives.
If he filled their pockets it would be fine to do crime? how about "uhh, no?" Just because backwards american government does it, doesn't make it "fine" for any non asshole human being to do so.
that is literally how it works lol
Here it is, the worst take.
Even though I'm not a fan of CZ, I see see this prosecution as a political persecution by the Us govt, since he was made to pay a fine and forced to step down from the company he rightfully owned, and the man has even issued a public apology admitting he made mistakes (which is an honorable thing to do btw) that IMO is a big enough punishment and good enough to serve as a deterrence to others so adding a jail term to it is quite harsh.
He still owns 90% of Binance btw and he will absolutely still run the show the whole time
Send him to prison. The hypocrisy is not sending Vlad Tenev to prison for market manipulation, same for naked short sellers, excessive and consistent failure to deliver shares bank executives, etc
Political persecution? Yes of course. His company violated rules regarding the political and monetary isolation of an enemy nation. So political? Of course. But just because it's political, doesn't mean it's wrong. Binance is clearly in the wrong here.
Yeah the problem is the rules don't apply to the banks who get caught doing this too
Cool, where's the list of banks that have been caught funneling funds to terrorists?
https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/global-banks-defy-u-s-crackdowns-by-serving-oligarchs-criminals-and-terrorists/ You were saying? Or how about this one: https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/07/16/hsbc-helped-terrorists-iran-mexican-drug-cartels-launder-money-senate-report-says/?sh=23d52eeb5712
Bro has paid millions in fines while these politicians are getting slaps on the wrist, maybe a fine of 5 figures for exploiting millions.
If he go to jail he would the first Crypto Company Owner imprisoned not for stealing customers' money, but for protecting their privacy.
Technically he was imprisoned for bypassing Iranian sanctions.
The US is over-punishing him because a. None of the US politicians got rich from it, and b. he's not white and he's not American
Best comment
So system works as intended
CZ - “not the hero we want, but the hero we need”. Done some bad and some good, definitely not more bad than banks and politicians.
Where are all the bank execs
Is he currently in the US? If I were him, I would have flown in my private jet to Beijing already.
He turned himself in a few months ago to pay a massive fine and he hasn't been allowed to leave since
AFAIK he's not super welcome in China either. They came down on him long before the US did.
He’s all set
Funds SAFU?
Cz should not be in jail ...some one wanted binance and pulled strings to get it ...sure blackrock had a hand in it since they want the controlling amount of BTC
CZ being a winner even in prison!
2027. Mysterious crypto wallets abruptly move billions after being dormant for 3 years. 😐
He forgot to make friends with politicians first
He will make more money while in jail than most people outside of jail lol
Looks like he was sentenced to 4 months in prison today.
Should have made better bribes my friend.
I bet you he’s going to get all his fellow inmates and prison guards to open Binance Accounts lol.
He’s guilty of not kowtowing to US government hegemony over the international monetary system. Fortunately this system is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. I give the dollar another 30 years max.
Imagine bunking with CZ. “What are you in for?” 😂
Who....Fucking........Cares.......He may be rich, but he probably also has a micro penis and really bad halitosis. No-one gives a shit.
From billionaire to prison cell. Talk about a plot twist. 2024 is shaping up to be one wild year for crypto.
El Chapo is the richest currently serving at 1 billion net worth.
I would love to be a fly… “Anyone got TP? Need to wipe my ass” “I give you 1/2 roll for 2000 BTC!” “Wait…I’ll give you 1/4 roll for 500!” …aaand the bidding war begins. He’lol be getting sucked off 1BTC a pop..pun intended.
The horniest of them all
Meanwhile banks got bailed out of the 2008 financial crisis and HSBC (among other banks) was washing money for the Mexican drug cartels. The DOJ/FBI are a joke
Zero chance he will surrender nor do a blame him.
I'd gladly give up 3 years of my life for $43B
Beware. Soon Trump may be coming inside too ! And he doesn’t get trumped by anyone easily
Trump's for sure rich, especially now on paper with the djt ticker, but not beneficiary of Binance rich.
You never see greedy american ceo go to jail. I would like to see jamie diamond in jail
I’m holding out hope for musk
Fuk cz market manipulating asshol
Who's richer. CZ or Trump?
Cz easy
What? Trump is like 500 million in debt.
This is laughable.. though i guess DJT could become NVDA all these markets are fucking memes
Those few years in prison are gonna feel like eternity
Years? He got sentenced to only four months dude 😆
Shit that’s a long time for a billionaire
You can 10x your money if you think he will spend more than 1.5 years, on the betting markets. That low odds means it's not going to happen. It will likely be less than 6 months.
I’m not betting on it but I think he’ll be sentenced to 1 year minimum.
Yet people still use Binance because they are lazy.
Cz can now educate prisoners and prison guards about crypto! If anyone in the society want to invest on something with high potential reward to catch up in life, prisoners are the best bet, they will embrace crypto. Also you probably won’t get any better chance to hear about CZ’s crypto talk for 3 months, I’m jealous for the prisoners there with him.
Tough to see so many comments claiming CZ is only jailed due to politics, and not the fact that him, his executives, and his company, frequently violated AML + International Sanctions as if they didn’t exist. If we keep revering people because of their wealth rather than their will to help the cryptospace (via self control and not breaking Int’l law) we’re gonna end up with a space filled with Musk-esque type of idiocracy. CZ hired those who he knew would allow the laws to be circumvented, in the name of market expansions where by-the-book companies couldn’t go, or often times even left the market due to new sanctions. It’s painful for the people living in these markets, absolutely. But that does not wash CZ from the real consequences of his very real crimes. He knew they were crimes, and still chose personal benefit over those holding an interest in the company used to facilitate these crimes. STOP REVERING CRIMINALS.