Changpeng Zhao (aka CZ), the CEO of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, plead guilty to criminal charges of failing to adhere with "basic anti-money laundering steps". That failure allowed terrorist groups like al-Qassam, al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas to fundraise via Bitcoin. It allowed almost US$899m to be traded by people in Iran, as well as Cuba, Syria and Russian occupied areas of Ukraine - all against US sanctions. Binance also enabled "tens of millions" in ransomware transactions and US$106m in darknet marketplace transactions. Probably the worst of all would be more than "1,000 transactions took place involving three marketplaces that dealt in child pornography and related material". Binance and CZ really did not give a shit, did they? Binance will pay a US$4.3b fine, while CZ has quit as CEO and was fined US$50m, I don't know if he will face much jail time - this WSJ article claims "a maximum prison sentence of 18 months under federal sentencing guidelines", which seems low to me?
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