Binance founder Changpeng Zhao faces sentencing; US seeks 3-year term for allowing money laundering

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, faces sentencing in a Seattle courtroom. U.S. prosecutors are asking a judge on Tuesday to give him a three-year prison term for allowing rampant money laundering on the platform. Zhao pleaded guilty and stepped down as Binance CEO in November as the company agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle related allegations. U.S. officials said Zhao deliberately looked the other way as illicit actors conducted transactions that supported child sex abuse, the illegal drug trade and terrorism. Zhao’s attorneys, insist he should receive no prison term at all, citing his willingness to come from the United Arab Emirates to the U.S. to plead guilty.