Brave of you to think Changpeng Zhao alias ‘CZ’ would settle with the United States DOJ, step down as the CEO of Binance, and the authorities would just let him walk. So BRAVE!!
In light of Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao’s guilty plea to criminal charges by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly looking for evidence that CZ still has access to Binance US user funds.
CZ cannot leave the United States
Last week, CZ pled guilty to breaching the Bank Secrecy Act and resigned as CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. The exchange agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine and embed compliance monitors who can report back to the US government after pleading guilty to accusations of breaking sanctions and money transportation rules.
After pleading guilty, Zhao was granted bail on a $175 million personal recognizance bond. To secure the bond, CZ put $15 million in a trust account and had three guarantors put up more than $5 million in collateral. He was free to return to the UAE, where his wife and children also live, under the terms of his bail release. On Monday, District Judge Richard Jones suspended this portion of the order.
However, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys argued that Zhao could pose a flight risk if he were to leave the country, citing the fact that he remains in possession of a substantial fortune and that the U.S. and the UAE do not have an extradition treaty.
They are not advocating for his incarceration before his February 23, 2024 sentencing. At Monday’s hearing, Judge Jones did not specify whether he would schedule a hearing or when he might otherwise adjudicate on the motion.
According to his lawyers, Zhao had already indicated his willingness to accept responsibility by traveling to the United States to enter a guilty plea.
Who has access to Binance.US funds?
According to a report by the WSJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to look for evidence that Binance and its founder, CZ, may have a backdoor to control assets stored on the Binance.US platform.
The Commission initiated legal proceedings against Binance in June 2023, alleging improper operation of a securities exchange. Concurrently, the Commission investigated the possibility of a collapse comparable to the aftermath of FTX in November 2022.
In the meantime, the crypto community awaits the assessment and accuracy of who truly controls Binance’s United States arm. The crypto community remains at a state where they do not trust regulators – who keep going back on their word and hurting the crypto industry.
Following CZ’s guilty plea and departure as CEO, Richard Teng, the newly appointed CEO, committed to improve regulatory compliance. Teng wishes to engage closely with regulators around the world and develop a reputation based on trust, which is a departure from CZ’s leadership position.
The U.S. unit of cryptocurrency exchange Binance ceased withdrawals of dollars by its clients from the site in mid-October, according to its amended conditions published on Oct 17th.
Binance.US ceased dollar deposits in early June after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) petitioned a court to freeze its assets.
Binance’s native coin, BNB, has suffered as a result of the news. BNB (BNB) is now trading at $224.80 on CoinGecko, with a 24-hour trading volume of $820,905,178.18. This indicates a -1.91% drop in the last 24 hours and a -14.27% drop in the last 7 days. With a circulating supply of 150 million BNB, BNB has a market capitalization of $34,628,134,550.
