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Mr. Gambaryan, a former U.S. law enforcement agent, understood the message as a request for a bribe from someone in the Nigerian government, according to five people familiar with the matter and messages reviewed by The New York Times. He and a group of his Binance colleagues had just met with Nigerian legislators, who accused the company of tax violations and threatened to arrest its employees. Later that month, Mr. Gambaryan wrote a three-page report describing the payment request and gave it to Binance’s lawyers, two people familiar with the report said. The episode was the backdrop for a second trip to Nigeria that Mr. Gambaryan took in February. On his return, he and a colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were arrested by the Nigerian authorities, setting off a crisis at Binance.
Persons: Tigran Gambaryan, Gambaryan, Nadeem Anjarwalla Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Nigeria, U.S, Nigerian, Binance
And he chatted about start-ups with Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI. After pleading guilty to a money-laundering violation in November, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, did not sit still. A federal judge denied his request to return home to Dubai, but Mr. Zhao, 47, was free to roam the United States. When he pleaded guilty, Mr. Zhao, once the most powerful figure in the global crypto industry, resigned as Binance’s chief executive and agreed to pay a $50 million fine. But Mr. Zhao, who goes by the initials CZ, is already looking to the future.
Persons: Sam Altman, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Forbes Organizations: OpenAI Locations: Montana, U.S, Telluride, Colo, Moab , Utah, Dubai, United States, Seattle
Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, should go to prison for three years after breaking the law “on an unprecedented scale” and pleading guilty to a money laundering violation, federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing on Wednesday. Defense lawyers countered in their own memo that Mr. Zhao, 47, should receive no prison time and face a sentence of probation, arguing that he had accepted responsibility for his crime and showed a commitment to philanthropy. A federal judge in Seattle, Richard A. Jones, is set to evaluate those dueling recommendations at a sentencing hearing for Mr. Zhao on Tuesday. His sentencing will be the latest landmark in a series of criminal prosecutions that have targeted some of the most powerful figures in the global cryptocurrency industry. Now Mr. Zhao faces his own prison sentence after cutting a deal with prosecutors in November, admitting that he failed to set up an adequate system at Binance to prevent money laundering.
Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Richard A, Jones, Sam Bankman Locations: Seattle
CNN —The news last week of money laundering charges against crypto exchange Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, sent shockwaves through both financial markets and crypto consumers alike. But for those familiar with the history of modern money laundering, they’re hardly surprising. Over and again, everything from Manhattan high-rises to Malibu beachfronts to Midwest manufacturing plants have allegedly housed illicit wealth, easily and anonymously. But crypto was also, in many ways, the perfect tool for kleptocrats and criminals trying to dodge sanctions and duck investigators. Like banks, real estate and more before it, the best days of the crypto industry as a haven for money laundering may yet be behind it.
Persons: Casey Michel, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, , Versha Sharma, Hamas’s Al, they’re, , kleptocrats Organizations: CNN, Wall Street Journal, Binance, Hamas’s, ISIS, Patriot Locations: Washington, American, Manhattan, Malibu, Midwest
NEW YORK (AP) — Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with class-action lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion in damages for his role in promoting cryptocurrency-related “non-fungible tokens,” or NFTs, issued by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Representatives for Ronaldo and Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, did not immediately return The Associated Press' requests for comment. Ronaldo launched his inaugural NFT “CR7” collection with Binance back in November of last year, ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Most recently, on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) Ronaldo reposted a Binance video and wrote that he was “Cooking something up" with the crypto exchange on Tuesday. Over the summer, Binance was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit from regulators.
Persons: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo, , Binance, , Ronaldo's, NFTs, Changpeng Zhao, Larry David, Tom Brady —, FTX’s, Al Nassr Organizations: Southern District of, Associated Press, Twitter, FTX, Spanish, Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United, Saudi Arabian Locations: Portuguese, cryptocurrency, Southern District, Southern District of Florida, Portugal, Hollywood, England
New York CNN —Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a $1 billion class action lawsuit for his promotion of Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange. Ronaldo and Binance didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Notably, Ronaldo is still promoting the company, including posting a Binance ad as recently as November 28 on his X account, which has 110 million followers. Celebrities suedOther celebrities have also been the target of similar lawsuits. He also agreed to pay a $50 million criminal fine and a $150 million civil penalty.
Persons: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo “, Ronaldo, Binance didn’t, Binance, , Gary Gensler, Kim Kardashian, Celebrities, Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Brady, Bundchen, Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, Jr, cryptocurrency, Charles Whitehead, ” Whitehead, , Changpeng Zhao, ” Zhao, – CNN’s Jennifer Korn, Allison Morrow Organizations: New, New York CNN — Soccer, ” Securities, Exchange, SEC, Cornell Law School, CNN Locations: New York, Florida
Binance skirted regulation to become the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Now, the company will plead guilty to violating anti-money-laundering requirements in the U.S. and agree to pay $4.3 billion in fines. Photo: Benoit Tessier/ReutersThe king of crypto’s largest outlaw empire told employees for years that he would never turn himself in. But on Tuesday, a jittery Changpeng Zhao showed up in a Seattle federal court to plead guilty to violating U.S. money-laundering rules. So this is new to me,” Zhao told a judge.
Persons: Benoit Tessier, Zhao, “ I’ve, I’ve, ” Zhao Locations: U.S, Seattle
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
For years, the Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and other senior employees at the cryptocurrency exchange knew that some of its users were criminals. Yet, despite regular warnings from some of its own employees that some transactions on Binance.com were violating anti-money-laundering laws, the firm was reluctant to cut them off. Those allegations, which were made public on Tuesday in a sweeping federal case against Binance and Mr. Zhao, show how thoroughly he and his deputies understood that criminals were using their trading platform — and how little they did to stop them. Mr. Zhao and Binance pleaded guilty on Tuesday to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to pay hefty fines. The Binance official acknowledged the report, then tried to persuade the tech company’s representatives to downplay Binance’s role in the transactions, according to the filing, which FinCEN posted on its website on Tuesday.
Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, FinCEN Organizations: Binance, Network, Treasury Department, FinCEN, Qassam
Binance mega-fine fits go-big-or-go-home vibe
  + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +3 min
NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Cryptocurrency is a precocious industry, in its lows as well as its highs. So it makes sense that Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine for anti-money laundering, effortlessly surpassing penalties paid by miscreant financial firms that have been around for more than a century longer. Binance boss Changpeng Zhao, a kingpin of crypto and the man who precipitated the downfall of bankrupt rival FTX, pleaded personally guilty on Tuesday to criminal violations. HSBC (HSBA.L), (0005.HK) in 2012 agreed to pay $1.9 billion for its role in facilitating drug cartels’ money laundering. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
Persons: Changpeng Zhao, FTX, Zhao, Binance, Al Qaeda, It’s, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, David Solomon, Sam Bankman, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, HSBC, HK, Malaysian, U.S . Treasury Department, Thomson Locations: Iran, North Korea, U.S
Stock Market Today: Index Futures Edge Higher
  + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( ) www.wsj.com   time to read: +1 min
OpenAI said Sam Altman will return as chief executive of the artificial-intelligence startup, ending a standoff that began when the board fired him last week. Nvidia shares edged down premarket, even after the company reported blockbuster sales of chips used in AI. Broad markets are poised for a quiet pre-Thanksgiving session, with stock-index futures nudging higher. Index futures were muted. Ten-year yields slipped, after settling Tuesday at 4.417%.
Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Dow Organizations: Nvidia, Dow industrials, Nasdaq, Treasury, Traders, Nikkei Locations: Europe, Shanghai
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
Here’s how the strategy behind Binance’s rise under Changpeng Zhao brought it crashing down. Photo: Benoit Tessier/ReutersThe chief executive of Binance , the largest global cryptocurrency exchange, stepped down and pleaded guilty to violating criminal U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements, in a deal that might preserve the company’s ability to continue operating, according to court documents. Changpeng Zhao appeared in Seattle federal court Tuesday and entered his plea, according to court records. Prosecutors accused Binance, which Zhao owns, of facilitating transactions with sanctioned groups. Binance encouraged U.S. users to obscure their location so the firm could avoid complying with U.S. anti-money-laundering laws, prosecutors said.
Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Benoit Tessier, Binance, Zhao Organizations: Binance, Prosecutors Locations: Seattle
Not only is Binance the world’s biggest crypto exchange, it is orders of magnitude larger than its rivals. Up until recently, Binance boasted nearly 60% of the market share for crypto spot trading. The Seychelles-based OKX is second in market share at 5.44% and the US exchange Coinbase is third at 5.37%, according to crypto news site CoinDesk. Today, Binance takes responsibility for this past chapter.”It’s a common refrain among crypto firms who find themselves under scrutiny. “What this plea deal does is give Binance as a chance to live another day,” Yadav said.
Persons: Changpeng Zhao —, Binance, Zhao, , ” Zhao, FTX, “ Binance, , Robert Le, Yesha Yadav, ” Yadav Organizations: New, New York CNN, Justice Department, Binance Holdings, Bloomberg, Getty, CZ, PitchBook, Investors, Vanderbilt University, Binance Locations: New York, Binance, Seychelles
Customers from Iran, Cuba and Syria — all of which face sanctions — were able to access the Binance platform. In addition to the outlawed foreign transactions, Binance did business with firms based in the United States even though it was not supposed to have any U.S. customers on its Binance.com platform. Instead, a different platform, Binance.US, which Mr. Zhao also owned, was required to handle the business and abide by U.S. anti-money laundering laws. But Mr. Zhao and other Binance employees believed it would be better for the main cryptocurrency exchange to handle big U.S. customers, the court filings state. At times, Binance has processed two-thirds of all digital currency trades, making it a vital power broker and intermediary in the crypto world.
Persons: Zhao, Binance, , Locations: Iran, Cuba, Syria, United States
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Persons: Dow Jones
Worldcoin: OpenAI's Sam Altman launches crypto project
  + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +2 min
Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, launched on Monday. Blockchains can store the World IDs in a way that preserves privacy and can’t be controlled or shut down by any single entity, co-founder Alex Blania told Reuters. The project says World IDs will be necessary in the age of generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT, which produce remarkably humanlike language. Altman told Reuters Worldcoin also can help address how the economy will be reshaped by generative AI. Since only real people can have World IDs, it could be used to reduce fraud when deploying UBI.
Persons: Sam Altman, Alex Blania, Altman, Reuters Worldcoin, , ” Altman, UBI Organizations: Humanity, Reuters Locations: San Francisco, Berlin
The Securities and Exchange Commission reached a deal with Binance late Friday that would allow the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange to keep operating in the United States and safeguard customer assets as the company battles a government lawsuit. After filing fraud charges against Binance on June 5, the S.E.C. But in a court filing on Friday, the S.E.C. On Saturday morning, Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing the case in federal court in Washington, signed off on the deal. The deal stipulates that Binance.US can transfer company assets “solely to make payments for expenses or to satisfy obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business.”
Persons: Binance, Amy Berman Jackson, Changpeng Zhao, Organizations: Securities, Exchange Commission, Binance Locations: United States, U.S, Washington
FILE PHOTO: Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, speaks at the Delta Summit, Malta's official Blockchain and Digital Innovation event promoting cryptocurrency, in St Julian's, Malta October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi/File Photo(Reuters) -Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has not sold either bitcoin or Binance Coin, its native token, the company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted on Tuesday. Last week, Binance was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which listed 13 charges against the company, Zhao and the operator of its purportedly independent U.S. exchange. The lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase Global have increased fears the crypto market’s ordeal could be prolonged further after the sector was battered by a string of meltdowns including the bankruptcy of FTX, Binance’s biggest competitor, last year. Binance Coin has lost more than 20% in value since the SEC’s action.
Persons: Zhao, Darrin Zammit Lupi, Binance, Changpeng Zhao Organizations: Binance, Delta, REUTERS, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Coinbase Locations: St Julian's, Malta, FTX
accountant, Sachin Verma, detailed a tangle of transactions that companies associated with the giant cryptocurrency exchange had made through two banks: Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank, both of which failed this year. separately said it estimated unpaid taxes by Binance over the past four years carried an interest penalty of more than $13 million. Though it estimated that Binance earned almost $225 million from 2019 to 2023, the regulator didn’t say how much the company paid in taxes over the period, or how much it should have paid. sued Binance in federal court in Washington, D.C., accusing the company of mishandling customer funds, lying to regulators and investors about its operations and engaging in manipulative trading. U.S. regulators have asked a federal judge to temporarily freeze assets tied to Binance’s subsidiary in the United States, and Wednesday’s filing was in support of that request.
Persons: Sachin Verma, Changpeng Zhao, Binance Organizations: Securities and Exchange, Silvergate, Signature Bank, Washington , D.C Locations: Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Seychelles, Washington ,, U.S, United States
said Coinbase made billions of dollars facilitating the sale of crypto assets as an unregistered exchange and deprived investors of significant protections. Coinbase and the S.E.C. Last year, Coinbase petitioned the S.E.C. Binance is accused of funneling billions of dollars of customer money to a company owned separately by Mr. Zhao. In addition to those charges Binance, like Coinbase, is accused of operating an unregulated exchange and issuing crypto currencies that the agency said should have been registered as securities.
Persons: Coinbase, Paul Grewal, Mr, Grewal, Binance, Zhao Locations: U.S
But Main Street isn’t listening. New data from TD Ameritrade shows that retail investors shrugged off US debt ceiling uncertainty and recessionary fears last month as they increased their exposure to markets. That index aggregates Main Street investor positions and activity to measure how they’re positioned in the market. Retail investors also piled out of AI and tech stocks as the sectors surged in May, opting instead to put their money into riskier bets. But these trades are risky and while an institutional investor might lose their job for making a big mistake, a Main Street trader could lose their shirt.
Persons: New York CNN — “, recessionary, Dow, they’ve, Alex Coffey, Ameritrade, , , Coffey, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Gary Gensler, Hanna Ziady, Willie Walsh, ” Walsh, Walsh Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Federal Reserve, First Republic Bank, Nasdaq, Research, CNN, PayPal, Disney, Coffey Retail, US Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Global, International Air Transport Association, Airlines Locations: New York, USA, bro
Investors have pulled around $790 million from the crypto exchange Binance and its US affiliate in the last 24 hours, data firm Nansen said Tuesday, a day after a top US regulator sued both exchanges. Binance saw net outflows of $778.6 million of crypto tokens on the ethereum blockchain, with its US affiliate, Binance.US, registering net outflows of $13 million, Nansen tweeted. The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of Binance.US over what it called a “web of deception” to evade US laws. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency was last at $25,723, flat on the day but pinned near a more than two-month low. The SEC complaint is the latest in a series of legal headaches for Binance.
Persons: Nansen, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, , , Tony Sycamore, Binance’s BNB cryptocurrency, Zhao Organizations: Binance.US, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Monday, SEC, Reuters, IG Markets, US, Futures Trading Commission
LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - A senior Binance executive was the main operator for five bank accounts belonging to the giant cryptocurrency exchange’s purportedly independent U.S. affiliate, including an account that held American customers’ funds, bank records show. This allowed Chen and her deputies to move funds held in the bank accounts. The previously unreported bank records and messages show that Binance’s management over the U.S. business’s finances extended across its bank accounts at Silvergate and detail how this secret access was granted. Binance.US has denied that Binance ever operated its bank accounts. ‘PRIMARY ADMIN USER’The Binance.US trading platform was launched by its operating firm, BAM Trading, in mid-2019 under then Chief Executive Catherine Coley.
Persons: Guangying Chen, Changpeng Zhao, Chen, Binance, Zhao, Binance.US, Krishna Juvvadi, Christian Hertenstein, Brian Shroder, ” Hertenstein, , Chen’s, Juvvadi, , Peak’s, Catherine Coley, Coley, Silvergate, James McDonald, Hertenstein, Susan Li, Li messaged, Li, Angus Berwick, Tom Wilson, Janet McBride, Michael Williams Organizations: Silvergate Bank, U.S, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Reuters, BAM, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, ” Reuters, SEC, , Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington, American, US, Binance, Shanghai, Binance.US
Crypto Prices Slide After SEC Sues Binance
  + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
Prices of major cryptocurrencies took a dive Monday after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused crypto exchange Binance of operating an illegal trading platform in the U.S. and misusing customers’ funds. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell more than 5% to $25,607 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. Ether also fell 5% to $1,808. Binance’s native cryptocurrency, Binance Coin, plunged nearly 10% to around $277.
Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: U.S
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