Federal Judge Richard Jones approved a plea agreement for cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The company will pay a fine of $4.3 billion.
This was reported by Bloomberg, citing the words of the judge during a hearing in Seattle.
“This is truly a case where the company's ethics were violated due to greed,” Jones said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Binance exchange compliance must now be monitored for five years. Monitoring will be carried out by a law firm.
Urging the judge to approve the deal, prosecutors said the exchange "left the financial system vulnerable." They also added that Binance's misconduct was intentional and occurred under the supervision of senior management.
The company's deputy general counsel, Josh Eaton, commented on the situation:
“Binance accepts responsibility for past actions. We are proud to have improved our controls over the past few years.”
The report also notes that the sentencing of former CEO of the exchange Changpeng Zhao was postponed to April 2024. He faces up to 18 months in prison.
