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If found guilty by Judge Richard Jones, the former Binance CEO could face up to 10 years in prison, although the sentencing guidelines recommend a jail term of 12 to 18 months.
Binance co-founder Yi He recently addressed concerns surrounding Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the company’s former CEO, during a Binance Chinese community meetup in Dubai. According to reports, He reassured attendees that CZ was in a “positive situation” regarding the regulatory uncertainties surrounding him in the United States.
The Chinese-born Canadian citizen stepped down as Binance’s CEO last year as part of a plea deal the company made with US regulators for violating certain rules. Despite this, the Binance co-founder disclosed that CZ’s “standing in the US is largely peaceful, and past regulatory pressures have been internally anticipated”.
CZ to Face Sentencing in the US
The comments regarding Zhao’s regulatory standing in the US come ahead of his sentencing hearing, scheduled for April 30, 2024, at the US District Court of Western Washington.
If found guilty by Judge Richard Jones, the former Binance CEO could face up to 10 years in prison, although the sentencing guidelines recommend a jail term of 12 to 18 months.
The legal situation stems from CZ’s guilty plea in November 2023 to one felony count for failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering (AML) protocol while serving as the company’s chief and violating the country’s Bank Secrecy Act.
Despite dismissing all charges against Binance and settling with the exchange for $4.3 billion, US authorities have insisted on legal repercussions for CZ.
Binance Settlement Excludes SEC
The settlement deal between Binance and US authorities did not include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In June 2023, the SEC filed 13 charges against Binance, its American subsidiary Binance.US, and CZ.
The charges included commingling customers’ funds, failure to restrict US customers from accessing the exchange, and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls.
Binance filed a motion to dismiss the case in response to the SEC charges. The exchange argued that the regulator had not “plausibly alleged” various securities-related violations and that the SEC was attempting to expand its authority over digital assets without explicit authorization from Congress.
Despite the settlement with other authorities, CZ and Binance will still have to face the SEC’s case after his sentencing hearing at the end of April.
US Crackdown on Crypto Bad Actors
Meanwhile, the US government has been cracking down on bad actors in the crypto industry. The US Department of Justice recently announced that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), former CEO of the bankrupt exchange FTX, has been convicted of multiple frauds.
The former crypto white knight was sentenced to 25 years in prison with three years of supervised release. SBF was ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture for orchestrating illegal schemes.
Earlier this month, a US judge found South Korean entrepreneur and founder of the collapsed blockchain protocol Terra (LUNA) Do Kwon and his company Terraform Labs liable for securities fraud.
The judge reached the decision after a two-week civil trial in the United States, following the SEC’s lawsuit against the duo.
