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Changpeng Zhao, former chief executive officer of Binance, arrives at federal court in Seattle, Washington, US, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Binance's billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange. The sentence in Seattle federal court was significantly less than the three years that federal prosecutors were seeking for Zhao. In November, Zhao struck a deal with the U.S. government to resolve a multiyear investigation into Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The action against Binance and its founder was a joint effort by the Department of Justice, the CFTC and the Treasury Department, though the SEC was notably absent.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao Organizations: U.S, Bank, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Binance, Department of Justice, CFTC, Treasury Department, SEC Locations: Seattle , Washington, US, Seattle, Binance, U.S

Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, heads to a Seattle courtroom on Tuesday to learn whether the crimes he admitted to committing will land him in prison for an extended sentence. As part of his plea deal with the Department of Justice, Zhao agreed to step down as CEO. Once a titan of the crypto sector, Zhao grew Binance into the world's largest centralized crypto exchange globally. Unlike rival exchange FTX, which collapsed into bankruptcy when founder Sam Bankman-Fried was criminally charged, Binance has continued to operate. Binance processed a whopping $18.1 trillion worth of trading volume in 2023, according to data from CCData, a crypto market data firm.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Richard Jones, Binance, Sam Bankman, Fried, Nansen, he's Organizations: Department of Justice, District, Prosecutors, Bank, U.S, Justice Department, Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, SEC Locations: Seattle, U.S, CCData, Iran

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at a Binance fifth anniversary event in Paris, France, July 8, 2022. Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani agrees, adding that Zhao's personal wealth won't be affected by his sentence. That's a different siutation from Sam Bankman-Fried, the controversial ex-CEO and founder of crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison term for crimes connected to the operation of his crypto exchange. "Negative long-term impact on Binance will diminish the value of CZ's investment in the crypto exchange," said Yadav.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Reuters Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Gabriel Abed, Richard Jones, Tre Lovell, Neama Rahmani, David Ryder, Binance, Braden Perry, Sam Bankman, Joshua de Vos, de Vos, Fried, Yesha Yadav, That's, Forbes, he's, Lucas Kiely, Kiely —, —, Yadav, it's Organizations: Staff, Reuters, CNBC, U.S, U.S . Department of Justice, District, Toyota, Bloomberg, Getty, Bank, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Vanderbilt University, Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Locations: Paris, France, Seattle, Zhao, Binance, Los Angeles, Seattle , Washington, Dubai, U.S, bitcoin, Iran

☆ U.S. prosecutors seek 36-month sentence for ex-Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 16, 2022. U.S. prosecutors are seeking an above-guidance sentence of 36 months for the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance on charges of enabling money laundering, according to a sentencing memorandum out late Tuesday. The memorandum, which was filed with the court for the western district of Washington, states that Zhao should serve a higher sentence that suggested under advisory guidelines to "reflect the gravity of his crimes." Under advisory guidelines, Zhao's sentencing would come in at a range of 12 to 18 months in prison. "A custodial sentence of 36 months—twice the high end of the Guidelines range—would reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote respect for law, afford adequate deterrence, and be sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve the goals of sentencing," U.S. prosecutors said.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, —, Binance Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, U.S, Bank, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Locations: Porte, Paris, Washington, U.S

☆ The biggest money managers are flocking to gold as inflation fears intensify
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Gold futures settled at a record high above $2,400 an ounce this week. The precious metal is coming off its third straight week of gains. Gold is often used as an inflation hedge because of its limited supply. @GC.1 YTD mountain Gold Professional speculators' net-long positions in gold futures and options hovered near the highest level since 2020 as of April 9, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's latest data. The hedge fund star revealed that not only did he own the popular SPDR Gold Trust fund (GLD), but he also bought physical bars.

Persons: James Steel, David Neuhauser, Neuhauser, Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn, Einhorn Organizations: Citi, Investors, HSBC Securities, Gold, Commodity, Livermore Partners, CNBC, Trust, Deutsche Bank Locations: Northbrook , Illinois

☆ Woman Could Have Prevented Great Recession; Ignored by Wall Street Men
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Josie Cox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

The story of Brooksley Born is not only the tale of a remarkable regulator whose Cassandra-like warnings — if heeded — could've prevented the great financial crisis from exploding into raging, ruinous enormity. Not long after she assumed chairmanship of the CFTC, Born started to feel a lingering unease with the rapidly expanding derivatives market. So to Rubin, Born was more of an inconvenience than anything, and she certainly wasn't in his club. Not long after, Treasury officials lobbied Congress to pass legislation preventing the CFTC from being able to regulate the OTC derivatives market. In the months and years that followed, it became increasingly hard to deny that the multi-trillion-dollar OTC derivatives market was the root cause of the great financial crisis.

Persons: Lehman Brothers, jolting, — could've, It's, Potter Stewart, Henry Edgerton, Porter, she'd, Bill Clinton, Clinton, Janet Reno, Brooksley, Michael Greenberger, Born, Gibson, weren't, Robert Rubin, Goldman Sachs, Rubin, Michael Hirsh, Alan Greenspan, Greenspan, Ayn Rand, Hirsh ., Hirsh, Greenspan didn't, braggadocian machismo, lauding Rubin, Lawrence Summers, Arthur Levitt, Josie Cox, Levitt, Summers, Jim Leach, Richard Lugar, —, Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera, Bob Rubin, Born's Cassandra, George W, Bush, Lauren Rivera, Christine Lagarde, Lehman, ABRAMS Organizations: Stanford University, Stanford Law School, Stanford, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Arnold, Futures Trading Commission, American, CFTC, Bankers Trust, Procter, Gamble, Sumitomo, Federal Reserve, Fed, Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Markets, Abrams, Term Capital Management, Enron, SEC, Born, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, Financial, International Monetary Fund, Lehman Brothers, Reuters, Street, The Washington Post, Guardian, Abrams Press Locations: California, Vietnam, United States, Washington, America, ABRAMS , New York

☆ Former New York cop charged with swindling investors in foreign exchange trading fund
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Peace's office said that as Rodriguez, who was arrested Wednesday, lost an increasing amount of money in trading in foreign exchange, he used money from new investors to pay prior investors their promised investment returns. Ex-cop Jason Rodriguez, 37, is accused of falsely promising investors in his fund, Technical Trading Team, that there would be guardrails to protect the trading risks for their money. That included a vow to never put a maximum of 1% of investors' funds at risk at any given time, the indictment says. A former New York City police officer was indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud after he allegedly lied to investors and lost most of the $4.8 million they put into his foreign exchange -focused investment fund, prosecutors said Wednesday. The suit says the defendants lost more than $3 million in trading forex on a leveraged basis, and "misappropriated participant funds for personal use."

Persons: Peace, cryptocurrency, Rodriguez, Attorney Breon, Jason Rodriguez, Benjamin Yaster, Edwin Carrion, Carrion, Danielle Hass, TTT, Defendants Organizations: Attorney, Eastern, of, U.S . Justice, Washington , D.C, Brooklyn U.S, Trading, New York Police Department, NYPD, Attorney's, U.S, Futures Trading Commission, Commodity, CFTC, Investments, CNBC PRO Locations: of New York, Washington ,, New York City, Bellerose , Queens, U.S, Brooklyn, Florida, Colombia, TTT

☆ Dollar firms ahead of busy data week with U.S. inflation in focus
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The dollar was on the front foot on Monday ahead of a packed week filled with key economic releases that will provide further clues on the global interest rate outlook, with a U.S. inflation reading taking center stage. The dollar was on the front foot on Monday ahead of a packed week filled with key economic releases that will provide further clues on the global interest rate outlook, with a U.S. inflation reading taking center stage. The kiwi had risen 1.2% last week, helped by broad dollar weakness and the risk of a rate hike from the RBNZ on Wednesday. "If anything, the (data) may be stronger than markets currently expect, and that will likely give a modest boost to the dollar," said CBA's Kong. "But at the same time, any gains in the dollar will likely be pretty modest.

Persons: Carol Kong, Sterling, Jane Foley, CBA's Organizations: Reserve Bank of New, New Zealand, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, of Japan's, U.S, Rabobank, U.S . Commodity Futures, Fed Locations: Japan, Australia, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, China, Asia, U.S

☆ As Sam Bankman-Fried awaits prison sentence, FTX customers await a surprise: full repayment
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Government exhibit in the case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Lawyers representing the bankruptcy estate of FTX told a judge in Delaware last week that they expect to fully repay customers and creditors with legitimate claims. After the dust settled from FTX's bankruptcy, Solana saw a huge run-up in its price, and it continued to rally after the September report. The bankruptcy estate of FTX has been looking to sell its Anthropic stake, according to a court filing this month. For FTX customers, being made whole, according to a judge's ruling, means getting the cash equivalent of what their crypto was worth in November 2022.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, FTX, Andrew Dietderich, —, Joseph Bankman, Barbara Fried, Brendan Mcdermid, John Ray III, Michael Kives, Braden Perry, FTX's, Ray, we're, It's, Solana, Lewis Kaplan, Elizabeth Williams, Michael Lewis, Lewis, IOUs, Perry, SBF, Renato Mariotti, Mariotti Organizations: Bankman, Federal Court, Reuters, K5 Global, SpaceX, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CNBC, Alameda Research, U.S . Justice Department's Securities, Commodities, SEC Chari Locations: FTX, Delaware, Plenty, Palo Alto , California, New York City, U.S, Bankman, Solana, Alameda, FTX's, Anthropic, New York, Brooklyn

☆ Michael Gill: Former Trump administration official dies after being shot in carjacking rampage
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Philip Wang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A former Trump administration official who was shot in a deadly string of carjackings in Washington, DC, earlier last week died Saturday, the DC Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. Michael Gill, 56, was inside his vehicle parked at Mount Vernon Square on Monday when the suspect, identified as 28-year-old Artell Cunningham, got inside the vehicle and shot him, police said. Cunningham shot Vasquez dead and fled the scene in his vehicle before officials say he conducted two more carjacking incidents in Prince George’s County the following morning, MPD Executive Assistant Chief Jeffery Carroll said at a Tuesday news conference. Cunningham was eventually stopped and was fatally shot by two New Carrollton police officers in Maryland on Tuesday. Before his death, Michael Gill worked for the Housing Policy Council, a real estate trade association, for several years, the organization’s president, Ed DeMarco, confirmed in a statement.

Persons: CNN —, Michael Gill, Artell Cunningham, Cunningham, Alberto Vasquez Jr, Vasquez, Jeffery Carroll, Carroll, ” Gill, Donald Trump’s, Kristina, “, Mike, ” Kristina Gill, Ed DeMarco, ” DeMarco, CNN’s Rashard Rose Organizations: CNN, Trump, DC Metropolitan Police Department, Mount, New Carrollton, US, Futures, Commission, Housing, Council Locations: Washington ,, George’s County, Maryland

☆ New details emerge about SEC's X account hack, including SIM swap
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday that a SIM swap attack was to blame for the breach of its official account on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this month. With access to the phone number, the unidentified individual then reset the account password. "While multi-factor authentication (MFA) had previously been enabled on the @SECGov X account, it was disabled by X Support, at the staff's request, in July 2023 due to issues accessing the account," the SEC said in the statement. The agency had the ability to switch two-factor authentication back on for their X account and were not reliant on X to do so. X owner and CTO Elon Musk mocked the SEC, an agency he has clashed with for years, after the agency's account on X was breached.

Persons: Elon Musk, Department of Homeland Security's, — CNBC's Lora Kolodny Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange, SIM, SEC, X, Twitter, SEC's, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland, Infrastructure Security Agency, Futures Trading Commission, Department of Justice, Enforcement

Here's the state of play globally for crypto regulation and enforcement in 2023 — and a look at what to expect in 2024. "However, much of their work has involved providing guidance to the industry through enforcement actions," continued Levin. Crypto market participants nevertheless hope that the spate of legal challenges brought to crypto companies in 2023 will bring clarity in the form of new regulations. The U.S.'s dominant role in global finance and its focus on consumer protection plays a crucial role in its leading position in crypto regulation enforcement. The region has been increasingly warming to crypto assets, despite a broader anti-crypto push from China, which banned bitcoin trading and mining in 2021.

Persons: Al Drago, Binance, Sam Bankman, Renato Mariotti, Mariotti, Richard Levin, Nelson Mullins Riley, Levin, ada, Changpeng Zhao, Damian Williams, Brian Armstrong, Armstrong, Alyse Killeen, Scarborough's Levin, FinCEN, Killeen, Diem, USDC, Braden Perry, it's, Kennyhertz Perry, Perry, Bafin Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Bloomberg, Getty, Regulators, Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S, Alameda Research, U.S . Justice Department's Securities, Commodities, CNBC, Capitol, SEC, Futures Trading Commission, Department of Justice, Scarborough, CFTC, Protocol Labs, Southern, of, Stillmark, Meta, Visa, Mastercard, U.S ., European, IRS, European Union, EU, France's Financial Markets Authority, AMF, Treasury, Monetary Authority of, Three Arrows, Terra Labs, Terra, Hong Kong Securities, Futures Commission, SFC, OSL Locations: Washington, Europe, Asia, U.S, Alameda, of New York, European, Crypto, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Monetary Authority of Singapore, China, East, Africa

☆ Heroes to zeroes in 12 months: How the two biggest crypto billionaire CEOs proved the critics right
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-30 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Combination showing Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (L) and Zhao Changpeng (R), founder and chief executive officer of Binance. Meanwhile, Solana is nearly 10x higher in the last 12 months, and bitcoin miner Marathon Digital has also skyrocketed. That same year, Bankman-Fried earned street cred in crypto circles for his bitcoin arbitrage trading strategy, dubbed the Kimchi swap. The relationship between Zhao and Bankman-Fried began to sour a few months after they met. In Nov. 2022, a fight between Bankman-Fried and CZ on Twitter, now known as X, pulled the mask off the scheme.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao Changpeng, Bitcoin, Solana, Binance's, Zhao, FTX's Sam Bankman, Fried, JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, bitcoin, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Elizabeth Warren, execs, Renato Mariotti, Michael Lewis, Sam, gunning, Lewis, SBF, Binance, FTX, Goldman Sachs, General Merrick Garland, Garland, Amr Alfiky Organizations: Marathon, JPMorgan, Microsoft, Capitol, Department of Justice, U.S . Justice Department's Securities, Commodities, CZ, Alameda Research, Formula, Democratic, Twitter, Emergency Economic, U.S ., Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, Securities, Exchange Commission, Justice Department, DOJ, Reuters Locations: Hong Kong, Singapore, Bankman, FTX, Miami, Washington, Alameda, U.S, New York City

☆ Binance might be peak for U.S. crypto enforcement cases, says CFTC official
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in front of displayed Binance logo in this illustration taken November 10, 2022. U.S. regulators have brought several cases against crypto firms such as Binance, helping to establish "guardrails" to bring "order and structure" to the market, CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson told an FT crypto and digital assets summit. She urged crypto firms to study the Binance settlement to see what sort of governance regulators look for at crypto firms. The CFTC will also be "deeply thoughtful" on requiring better disclosures at crypto firms that are vertically integrated, combining different activities under one roof. In the meantime, crypto firms are setting up shop in Britain to build an ecosystem that can service the rest of the world and benefit from "nuanced" regulators, Quintenz said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Kristin Johnson, Johnson, Brian Quintenz, Quintenz, Xiao, Xiao Zhu, Huw Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, Justice Department, European Union, CFTC, KKR, Thomson Locations: U.S, Binance's, Britain

☆ In the Market: Regulators look to pry open the dark corners of Treasury markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Paritosh Bansal | Thomson Reuters | Paritosh Oversees The Work Of More Than Journalists Across The Globe Who Write About Finance | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Duffie said more could be done, but added that the "official sector Treasury market datasets are far more comprehensive now than they were a few years ago." They would have much better estimates of the basis trade, for example, but they still wouldn't know exactly how big it is. The trade involves hedge funds exploiting the difference between a Treasury security and its derivative in the futures market. The CFTC data includes other trades that hedge funds enter into that involve shorting treasury futures, the two industry sources said. At a major Treasury market conference earlier this month, officials underscored the importance of good data.

Persons: Darrell Duffie, Duffie, John Williams, Sherlock Holmes, Paritosh Bansal, Anna Driver Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, Financial Research, Stanford University, Treasury, Futures Trading Commission, Securities, Exchange Commission, Regulators, ” New York Fed, Thomson Locations: ”

Funds' $10 billion net long dollar position in the week ending Nov. 7 was the biggest bullish bet on the greenback since October last year and a huge turnaround from the net short position worth more than $20 billion in mid-July. The last decade has shown that CFTC funds' net dollar positions tend to be long-term, directional trades held for at least a year, the longest of which was the net long from May 2013 through June 2017. But this time may be different - funds have only been net long dollars for nine weeks. The long dollar liquidation in the week to Nov. 14 was mostly against the euro and Japanese yen. Funds expanded their net long euro position by $2.9 billion, or nearly 21,000 contracts, the sixth increase in a row and the biggest since July.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, that's, Morgan, Jamie McGeever, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Futures Trading Commission, Traders, Reuters, Funds, Bank of Japan, FX, Thomson Locations: Rights ORLANDO , Florida

The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. Brent crude futures were down 60 cents, or 0.7%, at $79.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 68 cents, or 0.9%, to $74.86. OPEC+ is looking at deepening oil production cuts despite its policy meeting being postponed to this Thursday, an OPEC+ source said on Monday. The Middle East crisis had impacted oil prices as investors worried about impacts on supply.

Persons: Angus Mordant, Rebecca Babin, Goldman Sachs, Arathy Somasekhar, Paul Carsten, Florence Tan, Mohi Narayan, Peter Graff, Mark Potter, Tomasz Janowski, Cynthia Osterman, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, HOUSTON, Brent, . West Texas, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, Saudi, CIBC Private Wealth, ING, OPEC, United, International Energy Agency, Qatar, Hamas, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Thomson Locations: Loving County , Texas, U.S, Saudi, Russia, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Turkey, United States, Gaza, Houston, London

☆ Ex-Binance CEO Zhao urges judge to allow him to leave the U.S. before sentencing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Lawyers for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao are urging a U.S. judge to reject the Justice Department's request to bar him from returning to his home in the United Arab Emirates until he is sentenced for violating anti-money laundering requirements. Zhao's lawyers in a Thursday filing asked U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle not to reverse bail conditions set by a magistrate judge on Tuesday that would allow him to leave the U.S. while awaiting sentencing. The Justice Department has asked Jones by Monday to reverse a decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida to allow Zhao to return home to the UAE ahead of his Feb. 23 sentencing after he agreed to release him on a $175 million bail bond. Allowing Zhao to return to the UAE would allow him to take care of his partner and three children and prepare them for his sentencing, defense lawyers argued. "In the vast majority of cases, a multi-billionaire defendant who has pleaded guilty, faces possible prison time, and lives in a country that does not extradite its citizens to the United States would be detained," Justice Department lawyers said.

Persons: Zhao Changpeng, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Richard Jones, Zhao, Jones, Brian Tsuchida Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, United Arab Emirates, U.S, District, Islamic, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice Locations: Porte, Paris, France, Seattle, U.S, UAE, Canada, Binance, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Iraq, Syria, United States

Zhao's lawyers in a Thursday filing asked U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle not to reverse bail conditions set by a magistrate judge on Tuesday that would allow him to leave the U.S. while awaiting sentencing. Zhao, a citizen of the UAE and Canada, stepped down as CEO of Binance on Tuesday after pleading guilty to willfully causing the global cryptocurrency exchange to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. Allowing Zhao to return to the UAE would allow him to take care of his partner and three children and prepare them for his sentencing, defense lawyers argued. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Zhao Changpeng, Binance, Benoit Tessier, Changpeng Zhao, Richard Jones, Zhao, Jones, Brian Tsuchida, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, United Arab Emirates, U.S, District, Islamic, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, Seattle, U.S, UAE, Canada, Binance, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Iraq, Syria, Boston

Zhao's lawyers in a Thursday filing asked U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle not to reverse bail conditions set by a magistrate judge on Tuesday that would allow him to leave the U.S. while awaiting sentencing. Zhao, a citizen of the UAE and Canada, stepped down as CEO of Binance on Tuesday after pleading guilty to willfully causing the global cryptocurrency exchange to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. Allowing Zhao to return to the UAE would allow him to take care of his partner and three children and prepare them for his sentencing, defense lawyers argued. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ CFTC says access to US customers 'is a privilege, not a right,' in aggressive case against Binance that is only just getting started
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

CFTC says case against Changpeng Zhao and Binance is the beginning of an aggressive pursuit. Commissioner Caroline D. Pham said the CFTC has no borders when it comes to prosecuting non-US entities. AdvertisementA statement made by CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero read: "There are no pirate ships in US markets" and that "access to US customers is a privilege, not a right." Goldsmith added that the CFTC plans to continue its aggressive pursuit of crypto exchanges that violate trade laws. In a separate statement, CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham said the CFTC's reach has no border.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Caroline D, Pham, Zhao, —, it's, Sam Bankman, Christy Goldsmith Romero, Goldsmith Organizations: CFTC, Service, Commodity Futures Locations: U.S

WASHINGTON (AP) — While the scandals in the cryptocurrency industry seem to never end, Washington policymakers appear to have little interest in pushing through legislation to codify the structure of the industry. The latest shoe to drop is Binance’s multibillion dollar settlement with U.S. authorities and the resignation of its CEO this week. When cryptocurrencies collapsed and a number of companies failed last year, Congress considered multiple approaches for how to regulate the industry in the future. Brown has been highly skeptical of cryptocurrencies as a concept and he’s been generally reluctant to put Congress’ blessing on them through legislation. Yesterday’s development marks the same inflection point that we saw earlier at the intersection of the .com and post-.com eras.”

Persons: Sam Bankman, cryptocurrencies, Janet Yellen, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, General Merrick Garland, — Binance, Debbie Stabenow, John Boozman, Sen, Sherrod Brown, Brown, He’s, ” Brown, Fried, can’t, ”, Dennis Kelleher, Yiannis Giokas Organizations: WASHINGTON, Treasury, White, Biden Administration, Binance, U.S . Treasury, U.S, Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase, SEC, PayPal, Futures Trading Commission, Agriculture Committee, U.S ., Financial Services, Senate, Consumer, Better, Moody’s Analytics, U.S . Authorities Locations: Washington, United States, Cayman Islands, Ohio, stablecoins, U.S

☆ Binance was slapped with a $4.3 billion fine because it let groups like Hamas and ISIS receive funds: Treasury Department
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The treasury department says the company enabled transactions from Hamas, the Islamic State, and Al Qaeda. The treasury department said Binance failed to report over 100,000 suspicious transactions involving terrorist groups, ransomware, child sexual exploitation material, and scams. Lim had been told about "HAMAS transactions," and responded by saying that terrorists often send "small sums" of money because "large sums constitute money laundering," the CFTC complaint said. Advertisement"I HAZ NO CONFIDENCE IN OUR GEOFENCING," Lim was told by a Binance employee, who was tasked with reporting money laundering, the complaint said. The justice department opened an investigation into Binance's compliance with anti money laundering law in 2018.

Persons: Binance, —, Samuel Lim, Lim, Zhao, Merrick Garland, Richard Teng —, Binanace, Yesha Yadav Organizations: Service, Zhao, Brigades, Hamas, Islamic, Futures Trading, AK, New York Times, Vanderbilt University, Reuters, Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Iraq, Syria

☆ What the Binance settlement means for crypto investors—and why it could clear the path for a bitcoin ETF
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Industry insiders are cheering the end of a "CZ"-led Binance as a necessary move for crypto going forward. Some say it was perhaps even critical for what could be the next big step for the industry: the approval of a bitcoin ETF. Having this settlement behind us could be the final big, big step needed for this ETF." The crypto industry has long sought the creation of a bitcoin ETF (efforts to launch one go back at least a decade). "Binance is globally the major liquidity pool for crypto trading despite losing market share this year," she said.

Persons: Zhao, Binance, –, Franklin Templeton, Michael Rinko, Sam Bankman, Fried, Rinko, Sam Callahan, Callahan, Yesha Yadav Organizations: Industry, Department of Justice, –, Fidelity, Delphi, Securities, Exchange Commission, Binance, CZ, DOJ, Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, BlackRock, Invesco, Ark, Vanderbilt University Law School Locations: BlackRock

Just this week, the SEC sued Kraken, another crypto exchange, alleging that it is operating as an unregistered securities exchange. Binance is exiting the US as part of the agreement the crypto exchange made with law enforcement agencies. That also includes the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , and the Treasury Department. There is even a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team within the Justice Department actively identifying and investigating criminal cases involving digital assets. That is precisely how the feds secured the first ever corporate settlement with a crypto exchange.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao, Binance, Brian Armstrong, Coinbase, ” Armstrong, “, General Merrick Garland, ” Changpeng Zhao, Anthony Kwan, cryptocurrencies, ethereum, Bitcoin, ’, it’s, Ethereum, Treasury Department —, Kraken, Tiffany Hagler, ” Garland, Lisa Monaco, Tuesday’s presser, “ I’ve, Benham Organizations: New, New York CNN, Justice Department, Bloomberg, Getty, Washington DC, US Department of Justice, Department of Justice, Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, Treasury Department, SEC, Geard, Futures Trading Commission, Cryptocurrency, feds Locations: New York, United States, Binance, Washington, U.S, “, rulemaking

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