Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao Plead Guilty to Money Laundering in $4.3 Billion DOJ Settlement

Binance Holdings Limited, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money transmitting business, and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in the largest corporate criminal penalty in U.S. history. The company agreed to pay $4,316,126,163 in fines and forfeitures as part of a coordinated settlement with the Department of Justice, Treasury’s FinCEN, and OFAC. Founder and CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao personally pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to pay a $50 million fine while stepping down as CEO. The investigation revealed that for over five years (August 2017 to October 2022), Binance deliberately failed to implement anti-money laundering controls despite serving U.S. customers, enabling nearly $1 billion in illegal payments involving sanctioned countries including Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Hamas-controlled territories. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated Binance “prioritized growth, market share, and profits over compliance with U.S. law in a deliberate and calculated effort to profit from the U.S. market without implementing controls required by U.S. law.” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco revealed that Binance processed transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars for sanctioned entities, child sexual abuse materials, and terrorist organizations. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned Binance for turning “a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. Its willful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform.” The settlement exposed massive regulatory capture in crypto enforcement: despite Binance’s brazen violations being documented since 2017, federal agencies allowed the exchange to operate for over five years while it became the world’s largest crypto platform. Internal messages revealed Binance executives knew they were violating U.S. law, with one compliance officer stating “we need to make this decision that we are willing to take the risk of violating US law.” The case highlighted systemic regulatory failure as agencies with overlapping jurisdiction (SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OFAC) failed to coordinate effective enforcement, allowing Binance to exploit regulatory gaps and serve U.S. customers while processing billions in illicit transactions. Zhao was sentenced to just four months in prison in April 2024, far below the 36-month sentence prosecutors recommended. Following his release, President Trump pardoned Zhao in October 2025 after Binance paid Trump’s crypto venture $2 billion and hired Trump family lobbyists, exposing how regulatory failures enable corruption cycles.