In the latest blow to the embattled crypto industry, the Justice Department charged the major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its top executive with violating U.S. money-laundering laws and violating U.S. economic sanctions in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao stepped down and pleaded guilty to charges in a federal court in Seattle on Tuesday. The company also has agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines.
In a separate plea agreement, Zhao agreed to pay a $50 million fine. Binance will appoint an independent compliance monitor, with Zhao prohibited from any involvement with Binance for three years after the monitor is implemented.
The 32-page complaint includes three counts related to money laundering, conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and sanctions violations. It includes wide-ranging allegations of Binance pursuing U.S. customers at the direction of Zhao while not complying with U.S. anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer laws, as well as servicing customers in countries with sanctions restrictions, including Iran.
The $4.3 billion penalty will be split between the DOJ, Treasury Department, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Samuel Lim, the former chief compliance officer of Binance, also agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine with the CFTC.
"In part because of the crimes it committed, Binance became the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a press conference on Tuesday. "Now, Binance is paying one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history."
The Justice Department lawsuit, which follows months of speculation that the agency had Binance in its crosshairs, comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance in June, alleging the exchange broke securities law and mishandled customer assets. That came eight months after civil charges were filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Although the exchange's former chief strategy officer, Patrick Hillmann, told the Journal in February that Binance expected to pay monetary penalties to settle its investigations, the Justice Department will also file criminal charges against Zhao, according to new reporting from the Journal.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Binance shared a blog post, which read, "These resolutions acknowledge our company’s responsibility for historical, criminal compliance violations, and allow our company to turn the page on a challenging yet transformative chapter of learning and growth."
After Zhao, a former software developer for Bloomberg, founded Binance in 2017, it skyrocketed toward becoming the world's largest crypto exchange. With rapid success came growing pains, as the company struggled to implement know-your-customer and money-laundering provisions. Lengthy complaints from the SEC and CFTC detailed prioritizing profit over compliance, with Binance even pushing VIP customers in the U.S. to use its global platform, despite it being prohibited domestically.
While Binance has made a public push to come into compliance in recent years, including hiring former Drug Enforcement Agency and Gemini veteran Noah Perlman as chief compliance officer, the exchange has not been able to shed its reputation for skirting the rules.
The Justice Department charges represent a culmination of the company's failure to change minds in the U.S., and a possible end of its operations in a country increasingly hostile toward crypto.
With Zhao stepping down, Richard Teng will take over, Zhao announced in a tweet on Tuesday. Teng previously served as the global head of regional markets.
The price for BNB, the Binance blockchain's native token, spiked after news of a settlement first leaked, although it has fallen from a high of $270 to around $240 as of 1:15 pm ET.
