{"id":128685,"date":"2023-11-21T22:14:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T22:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com"},"modified":"2023-11-21T22:14:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T22:14:22","slug":"cz-binance-ceo-steps-down-after-4-billion-settlement-with-doj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/cz-binance-ceo-steps-down-after-4-billion-settlement-with-doj","title":{"rendered":"CZ, Binance CEO, Steps Down After $4 Billion Settlement With DOJ"},"content":{"rendered":"
On Tuesday, the price of top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, tumbled for a couple of hours and then recovered. The hardest hit was the Binance token BNB<\/a>, which experienced a drop of 6% in 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n However, this was not part of the normal volatile fluctuations of blockchain coins. It was a negative reaction to the news that Changpeng “CZ”<\/a> Zhao’s\u00a0days as the CEO of Binance had come to an end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was the news that CZ, the CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was stepping down as part of a major $4 billion settlement<\/a> between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the exchange he founded.<\/span><\/p>\n In what is the latest chapter of a continued regulatory U.S. crackdown on the crypto industry, Zhao will plead guilty to anti-money laundering<\/a> charges brought by the DOJ. The <\/span>Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/a> reports that CZ is scheduled to enter the plea in federal court in Seattle on Tuesday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n Binance has been facing serious legal problems for several years. On March 2023, the new Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed legal <\/a><\/span>action<\/span><\/a> against Binance<\/a> (PDF). The complaint charged Binance Holdings Limited, Binance Holdings (IE) Limited, and Binance (Services) Holdings Limited, who operate the Binance centralized digital asset trading platform, for alleged willful evasion of U.S. law. It also charged Changpeng Zhao, describing him as “at the helm” of operations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. This should be a warning to anyone in the digital asset world that the CFTC will not tolerate willful avoidance of U.S. law,” CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said.<\/span><\/p>\n Later this year, on June 5, the <\/span>SEC also took aim at Binance<\/span>. SEC charged the crypto operator and its founder, CZ, with operating an unregistered exchange and misleading investors by using a Switzerland-based fund, Sigma Chain, which was also owned by CZ, to inflate the trading volume on Binance’s U.S. platform.<\/span><\/p>\n But the longest-standing legal battle against Binance is that of the DOJ. In late 2020, <\/span>Bloomberg <\/span>reported that federal prosecutors demanded Binance to hand over files<\/a> and messages relating to its U.S. customers. Other reports assure that DOJ investigations into Binance may predate 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDOJ’s Years-Long Investigation Into Binance Coming to an End<\/span><\/h2>\n