Fix, Binance Agrees To Pay A Fine Of IDR 67 Trillion To US Regulators!

Binance crypto exchange is ready to pay a fine. (Photo; Doc. Cincodias)

JAKARTA - Binance, the world's largest crypto trading platform, has approved a settlement of US$4.3 billion in law with US authorities for its various offenses. This settlement is one of the largest in the history of the crypto industry, and marks the end of a lengthy investigation conducted by the US Department of Justice, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The investigation revealed that Binance had violated various rules and regulations in force in the US, such as trading illegally, avoiding taxes, ignoring anti-money laundering standards and KYC (Know Your Customers), as well as providing false and misleading information to regulators and customers.

Judge Jones, who approved the settlement on Friday last week, February 23, strongly criticized Binance's behavior, and called it a "case in which the company's ethics was compromised by greed". Judge Jones also praised prosecutors and regulators' efforts to uncover and crack down on Binance's bad practices.

As a result of this settlement, Binance must comply with strict supervision from a third party appointed by the court, and must comply with all the rules and regulations in force in the US. In addition, Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, or better known as CZ, had to resign from office, and be replaced by Richard Teng, who previously served as Head of the Global Binance Regional Market.

CZ also faces 18 months in prison, after pleading guilty to seven counts, including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. He was not allowed to leave the US before serving his sentence, which was scheduled for April 2024. He also had to pay a personal fine of 100 million US dollars (Rp1.56 trillion).

Binance's deputy law, Josh Eaton, says that Binance is fully accepting responsibility for the past and the reason we sit here today. He also stressed that Binance has made a significant "enhanced compliance", and is committed to improving its reputation and services.