In a statement posted on X, Zhao expressed remorse and stated, “I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is in the best interest of our community, Binance, and myself.”
The U.S. Department of Justice has imposed significant penalties on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, amounting to $4.3 billion (£3.4 billion). The Justice Department’s investigation found that Binance had played a role in helping users evade international sanctions.
According to a spokesperson, Binance enabled transactions totaling nearly $900 million between U.S. and Iranian users and facilitated millions of dollars in transactions between U.S. users and individuals in Syria, as well as in the Russian-occupied regions of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk.
Binance, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, has been a prominent platform for trading cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
The Justice Department’s findings also revealed that Binance had facilitated criminal and terrorist financial activities by providing an easy avenue for money transfers.
The department reported, “Between August 2017 and April 2022, approximately $106 million in Bitcoin was directly transferred to Binance.com wallets from Hydra. Hydra was a well-known Russian darknet marketplace frequently utilized by criminals for the sale of illegal goods and services.”
As a result of the investigation, Binance is now obligated to report any suspicious activities to federal authorities, which will aid in criminal investigations involving cybercriminal activities and terrorism financing, including the use of cryptocurrency exchanges to support organizations such as Hamas.
The new CEO of Binance is Richard Teng, who previously served as the head of regional markets. In his farewell post on X, Changpeng Zhao expressed the emotional difficulty of stepping down from his role.
Changpeng Zhao has been a highly influential figure in the cryptocurrency industry.