Largest crypto exchange Binance fined $4 billion, CEO pleads guilty to not stopping money laundering

BY ERIC TUCKER, LINDSAY WHITEHURST, GENE JOHNSON AND FATIMA HUSSEIN

THE U.S. government dealt a massive blow to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, which agreed to pay a roughly $4 billion settlement Tuesday as its founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform.

Zhao stepped down as the company’s chief executive and Binance admitted to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and apparent violations of sanctions programs, including its failure to implement reporting programs for suspicious transactions.

“Using new technology to break the law does not make you a disruptor, it makes you a criminal,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who called the settlement one of the largest corporate penalties in the nation’s history.

As part of the settlement agreement, the U.S. Treasury said Binance will be subject to five years of monitoring and “significant