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Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison

A US judge has sentenced crypto kingpin Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, to four months in prison for breaking anti-money laundering rules.

Last November, Zhao—better known as CZ— pleaded guilty to willfully violating anti-money-laundering rules that enabled hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions involving US-sanctioned entities, including Iran and Cuba, to pass through the Binance platform. The plea deal required Zhao to step down as Binance chief executive and accept a $150 million fine, and for the company to pay a $4.3 billion penalty. In coming to an appropriate sentence for Zhao, the judge was required to “look past the guidelines” and factor in context beyond the facts of the underlying crime, says Daniel Richman, a professor of law at Columbia University and former federal prosecutor.

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