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It looks like the court deal between the US court and Binance is coming to a close. However, the exchange itself is also in danger of being shut down.
The historic $4.3 billion settlement with Binance has been approved by a Seattle judge. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by international trading volume, must pay the said amount after Judge Jones authorized the plea agreement.
This settlement agreement is considered the largest in the history of litigation. All previous settlements, including the $3.5 billion deal with American Home Products, the $3.2 billion settlement with Tyco International and the $2.83 billion in fines paid to Cendant Corporation, were smaller.
Three days earlier, prosecutors had asked a U.S. court to approve the fine imposed on the cryptocurrency exchange. The court's decision was covered Friday by Bloomberg's Sabrina Wilmer and Anna Edgerton. They quoted Judge Jones' opinion, saying, "This is really a case where a company's ethics were undermined by greed."
In addition to a hefty fine, Binance agreed to oversight by an outside watchdog, and its founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, was ordered to step down. Richard Tan, Binance's global head of regional markets, was appointed CEO. Binance's deputy legal director, Josh Eaton, admitted that the cryptocurrency exchange "accepts full responsibility for its past and for what led to the present situation."
The attorney also emphasized that the company is proud of the "compliance improvements" it has implemented. CZ is preparing for sentencing, which is scheduled for April, and faces approximately 18 months in prison.
Despite attempts to secure permission to leave the U.S. prior to sentencing, the former CEO has been ordered to remain in the continental United States. CZ's plea bargain was accepted by the court in December 2023.
Thus, U.S. regulators came to the decision to fine the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and left its founder without a position and imposed an incredibly large fine.
The terms under which Binance will continue to operate include full oversight of the exchange by a representative of the US government for five years, effectively meaning indefinite oversight.
Goodbye, world's largest exchange, you will be missed. Unfortunately, the usual case of raiding and illegally disposing of the assets of the best and most liquid crypto exchange in the world has occurred. The exchange's only crime is that it has become too large and influential.
Attempts by American bankers to displace Binance from its leading position have failed. FTX was once a serious contender for global supremacy, but found itself targeted by banks and the US Democratic Party to undermine stablecoins and confidence in the industry.
Coinbase, which could rather be called a "junk exchange" than a crypto exchange, was also under the scrutiny of bankers and actively supported by them.
In the U.S. market, action was taken against Bitfinex, Kraken, Gemini, and many other trading platforms were destroyed or banned in order to undermine all legal crypto trading.
to bring all legal cryptocurrency trading under control. Now Binance has become the object of similar measures.