Binance Pleads Guilty, Pays $4.3 Billion to End Legal Woes

(Bloomberg) — Binance Holdings Ltd. and its CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering and U.S. sanctions violations under a sweeping settlement with the U.S. that allows the cryptocurrency exchange to continue operating.

Binance will pay $4.3 billion in one of the largest corporate agreements in U.S. history. Zhao will pay a $50 million fine under a deal that requires him to step down as CEO. Zhao pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in federal court in Seattle. The deal, which includes the Justice Department, Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, ends a years-long investigation into the exchange.