Binance founder Changpeng Zhao resigned from his position as CEO of the company on Tuesday. He pleaded guilty in Seattle court to violating anti-money laundering rules with his company, international news agencies write. Zhao is said to have already entered into an agreement with the US Department of Justice, among others, and plans to pay a fine of more than 45 million euros. He would also not be allowed to interfere with Binance for several years.
The top management of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, is also said to have agreed to plead guilty in the case. The company is said to be planning to pay a fine of 3.94 billion euros. The settlement between Binance and Zhao allows the company to resume its daily operations, which has been difficult recently. Several banks severed their ties with the American branch of the company, meaning that customers of the trading platform could no longer exchange crypto coins such as bitcoin for dollars.
Binance was specifically suspected of violating sanctions and failing to implement an anti-money laundering program. The company, which violated those rules at home and abroad, had been under scrutiny for some time for these reasons, among others. Earlier this year, the American stock exchange watchdog SEC charged the crypto exchange and its CEO with misleading investors, regulators and customers. Binance left the Netherlands this year because the company did not want to register with regulators. This is legally required in the Netherlands.
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