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Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have had a defining year in 2023. The world’s largest spot crypto exchange is surviving a criminal settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) plus multi-billion dollar fines to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and bureaus of the US Treasury. All the while, it continues battling another unresolved, multi-billion dollar SEC lawsuit. Before the start of 2023, alarm bells were already sounding that Binance was on the brink of serious trouble. It was the subject of several probes by US agencies. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Binance openly defied US government wishes to stop serving Russia-based users. By July that year, Reuters staff had kicked off a long-lasting feud with the firm. A string of exposes revealed Binance knowingly skirted US sanctions by serving clients in Iran, and that the exchange has washed billions in crypto for money launderers . News that Binance was the subject of yet another probe by...

Earlier this week, former Binance chief Changpeng Zhao (CZ) pleaded guilty in a Seattle court to a number of felony charges related to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money services business, and failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. As part of CZ’s plea, he has agreed to step down as the exchange’s CEO, pay a $50 million fine, and will be formally sentenced next year. In addition, Binance itself has been ordered to pay a $4.3 billion fine, and the company’s former chief compliance officer Samuel Lim has agreed to pay $1.5 million in civil penalties to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Binance will also be watched by “an independent compliance monitor.” However, all of this could seemingly have been avoided if only Binance and its people had adhered to CZ’s Principles, the former chief’s well-documented recipe for business success . Read more: Binance bitcoin reserves drop as CZ faces US detainment CZ publ...