Bitcoin Forum

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What next after four months,

On Tuesday, the Binance CEO CZ was sentenced to four months imprisonment all on the charges of allowing for the participation of illegal money laundry from his exchange Binance, the US government gile a lawsuit against him and charged him, same way they habe been clamping down of other privacy means in which bitcoiner can use to achieve thier goals, i don't wa t to mention the keyword bit we all know about the recent ban thst took effect since January 1st of this year 2024.

With all these happening, I suggest we should be reminded as bitcoiners on what we are made for and should not loose focus on how we can achieve our target with the use of bitcoin for our financial economy in all modules of it's applications Privacy should be our heritage with bitcoin, using centralized exchanges is the weakest means to have it, because the governments will be after you when you're under a centralized exchange, they have all your details with them.

Every bitcoiners should understand why they need to have in custody their own digital financial asset and not with third parties like exchange ss, they can be attacked, hacked and if any of these happens, our asset with them are gone, we should learn to avoid the use of exchange, hold our bitcoin on cold storages and remember that not your keys not your coins still ever remains verdict in bitcoin network.

Well but 4 months is a laugh, and he won't go to prison, it's all a consequence of a pact. Although if we think about it more broadly this is part of an attack on privacy, for which it seems to be money laundering anything that has to do with protecting it. And the bad news is that it seems to me that this has only just begun.

Bitcoin is decentralized and should be treated as such. I do understand that other people have a lot of various reasons for why they think centralized exchanges are better than decentralized ones. Personally I think we should stick to how bitcoin was made to be used.

Binance still seems to be doing well and is still continued to be used by many despite the huge heft of money that they are going to be paying for.

That's a nice reminder and I do not know anyone conversant with Bitcointalk who will still slack in that regard, or else, such a person will regret it. The fact that Binance even has issues with my country has made me almost completely stop working with it, but for other exchanges and centralised systems, my cautious approach with them since they merely "owe" me the amount with them and not a guaranteed arrangement has ever made me careful in dealing with them.

However, there is no way this sentencing will ever affect Binance in any way, it is now under new management and the operation of the exchange continues to run smoothly after CZ excused himself as the CEO months back, which will not be different now. But what pains me is that the sentence is too little regardless of whether he pleads guilty or not, the 4 months will soon pass.

This will continue to embolden these rich guys to launder money, so what's the point?

I'm struggling to understand your post. Firstly you put binance in the same bunch as privacy services and go on to talk about the privacy risks of using it. What's happening to Binance has nothing to do with reducing privacy of bitcoin users, it's a criminal investigation.

CZ pleaded guilty to the charges, aided be investigation and binance has greed to pay fines to the tune of $4 billion, hence the lighter sentence.

By handling this with $4B, I could guess his sentence will not be too serious.

About safety of our bitcoins, it's our private keys, it's our bitcoins.

Binance or other centralized exchanges don't give us private keys so we only need to store our bitcoins on their exchanges if we can afford to lose them. By trusting them as custodians of our bitcoins, we afford to lose it anytime.

The warning is for all centralized exchanges, all online platforms, where you can store your bitcoins, not only Binance.

Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5421039.0)

I don't even see him committing any crime and what is happening is just an abuse of power by the US government. If you support the US government's assessment as being correct, you should prepare yourself better because sooner or later they will intervene more deeply in the cryptocurrency market and completely control it.

The interesting thing I see is that millions of users on X are trying their best to support CZ for his contributions to the crypto industry. Meanwhile, on the forum, there are some people who don't like him. It is true that it is difficult to please everyone.

4 months... must be a joke. It is probably just a warning to the other exchange and casino owners.  (and theymos lol)

"Do as we say or else we can mess you up in ways you can't even imagine. Don't f with us."

CZ and the Feds came to an agreement it seems but they couldn't let him go without a punishment because it would leave a bad image on the Feds. So they come with this joke-like sentence. I don't even believe CZ will do his time like the other prisoners. His punishment will be a vacation in a 5 star hotel for 4 months probably. Imagine spending 4 months in a hotel, I would go insane. Poor CZ.

It looks very orchestrated.

But, my money in binance is safe right?
Sorry got a bit panic when i saw this thread and since i can't access my wallet right now, i'm just making sure everything is alright.

For now… but, “not your keys not your coins”

There were lots of big exchanges went down in the past. Some of them went down without a warning. Some gave many warnings before they collapsed. Maybe this is one of those warnings. I am not saying that you shouldn’t be holding any coins on an exchange but think about this: If binance went down today, the amount you’ll lose on their platform would make you mad? If you are saying “yes” then you should lower your risk levels and hold more coins in your cold wallet.

As long as you manage your risks the right way, there is nothing to be worried about.

Yet another self pro claimed privacy and non custodial when he's the one who support centralized exchange, if you're someone who care about privacy, you won't use it!


https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/address/bc1qpnmtsyslfunhdn7tv4tnahaxvgh7tk9axcu393

Right now it's safe, but we don't know in the next week, next month, next year etc.

Remember, CZ is ex Binance's CEO, even though he's going to jail, actually it shouldn't affect anything to Binance. It's why I don't understand why the medias make this news really big when he's now a nothing.

I like CZ, but people like CZ should understand the importance of privacy, they should have worked on a decentralised way to trade Bitcoin, if just Bitcoin only I will like it.

Satoshi created Bitcoin as a decentralised digital currency, we can't expect him to build a decentralised way to trade Bitcoin too.

Someone else have to do this, but crazy are the developers we have today, they want to create name for themselves, they want their names to be heard, they aim for massive popularity, if Satoshi is like them Bitcoin would have failed woefully today.

Why can't we just learn from the greatest master himself?

I do not see it as flexing of muscles by the US government. Binance is also having regulatory issues in other countries like the Philippines, Canada, Nigeria, India etc.

You've got a point. The way the DOJ was going about the case, that they wanted to make an example of him to send a clear message to others, I thought CZ was going to get something stiffer, perhaps the 4 months imprisonment may just be a charade.

CZ was smart enough to step down as the CEO of Binance so any case or issue against him will not bring down his empire. If he was still the active CEO, this news would have had a greater effect on the company.
Always consider any money you leave in an exchange not safe.

Four months isn’t too bad after what some people were predicting but regardless, I don’t see any victims in this case. I don’t think he should have received a custodial sentence at all. He paid a huge fine & had to step down at Binance, that is enough of a punishment in my opinion. We will see you out as a free man in four years CZ.

It is fair or unfair sentence for CZ, depends on each person and their stance on it.

I believe there is no place in the world can give us completely fairness but from CZ case, I see it looks good that CZ still got supports from the judge Richard Jones.

How Changpeng Zhao's 'Good Guy' Reputation Secured a 4-Month Prison Sentence (https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/04/30/how-czs-good-guy-reputation-secured-4-month-prison-sentence/)

Is CZ a good guy or bad guy?

Again, there will be different thinking among us on it but I imagine that if CZ is sentenced in another country, like in China, North Korea for example, he will be sentenced to death if the government want to do that. In the USA., it's simply impossible.

Binance CEO CZ is not a privacy advocate and took advantage of newbies' ignorance to get them to continue depositing into Binance.
There is no connection between his conviction in the money laundering case and the ban on privacy services. CZ may indeed be guilty and should deserve punishment. 4 months is not enough, but Binance and CZ have fully cooperated with the authorities, and these provisions may send a message to scammers that all crimes are possible if you cooperate with the authorities, and the punishment will be very light.
CZ cooperated and did everything to avoid prison and yet he was imprisoned.

Apart from him being guilty, I hope he learned from this, I am surprised that a smart man like CZ could build a centralized exchange and wanted his name to be online everywhere, he later found out that decentralization is the key, something he should have done to erase any crackdown, the proof is there already, Bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto is a very good example.

A system needs to be built, on the blockchain where there will be no way for any centralized entities to stop it from running and it will serve as a dex, all teams will have to get it running and vanish into thin air just like what Nakamoto did, I believe this is the way now.

Enough with trying to get popular, the more popular you are in the crypto space the more dangers of getting locked up will come looking for you, the only way to be powerful in this world and stay powerful is to be a shadow, remain unknown, pull your strings in a no man's land.

You can't hurt what you can't see.

I am not stating the guy from Binance is a saint.  Nor am I stating that Binance was the greatest thing ever.  Partly, it was.  Whether we like it or not, it is one of the reasons Cryptocurrencies became so popular.  They did make it much, much easier and more comfortable for the average user to join our crib.

BUT as usual, this sentencing is more than exaggerated and the News are making it seem like such a big deal.

Maybe it is.

But then if to the Authorities it is such a big deal I want some body to tell me what similar or worse sentencing the CEOs of Banks who processed MANY suspicious Transactions, worked with the Taliban, North Korea and played a role in Money Laundering?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/business/fincen-banks-suspicious-activity-reports-buzzfeed.html

Oh.  Yes.  Right.  No sentencing.  Only Cryptocurrency enthusiasts receive the worst, because they play a role in building an ecosystem the Authorities hate.

Sure.  Fair if you ask me, what can I say.

All choices regarding privacy are in each person hands because from a legal perspective, sometimes we cannot prevent other people from being on the stock exchange. Use it appropriately without needing to keep assets on the exchange for too long. Regarding CZ since he admitted his mistake, all power on behalf of Binance has been transferred to the new CEO. That's formal but behind the scenes anything can be manipulated to make us fooled. But I don't care that far regarding the CZ case, there is no gain or loss for me personally in investing in Bitcoin as long as I can find my own way. Binance is just 1 of 1000 bridges so we have the right to choose. The most important thing is that our investment is safe, no other party touches it, so there is nothing to worry about. We are used to the US government's activities to target people in the crypto industry  .

It's more unfortunate rather than a joke! It's unfortunate to see US government is constantly attacking crypto related businesses and people involved in it. It's unfortunate to see the negative stance of US government regarding the cryptos in general.

4 months is nothing! But I wonder why a businessman has to go to prison even after agreed to do a settlement of $4 billion! Crypto businesses need to think 10 times before they want to start a new venture from American soil. There are many crypto friendly countries on earth. They just need to move out, completely.

Binance by far, the biggest crypto exchange in the world so they are able to soak that hit. Think about a smaller exchange, they would have to go out of the business!

Not what I imagined the punishment meted out to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Simply because there was no evidence that CZ was ever informed of the laundering, the judge ruled four months and no trial. Reportedly the judge rejected the prosecutor's request to increase his sentence.
From the news surrounding the legal decision received by CZ, it appears that the law is only on paper which burns easily and turns to dust.

He is going to prison for just four months, it isn't like he was sentenced to many years in prison. Take note that it is because of the settlement and guilty plea that he is getting just four months in jail. There's no way they would simply have let him go without any extra punishment of jail term, and four months is really nothing.

However, you are right about the U.S being unfriendly to crypto and crypto services all in the name of fighting money laundering, who knows the next service they will go after.

This issue of laws is something that seems not to be good but is actually good for protecting people. Some people may hate what the US government is doing but when we look at a scenario where a person deposits money on an exchange and then at the time of withdrawal it is not allowed and days after begging a lot for the exchange employees to return their money and discovers that the owner of the exchange disappeared with all the money, so at that time this person who lost all the money on the exchange will be thinking how good it would have been if they used an exchange that was licensed and operated in the USA because the laws in the USA work much better than in other countries

Of course, I also agree that there are cases in which it seems to me that the US government justice system is persecuting people who are interested in cryptocurrencies, such as Roger, who sees that although I disagree with him about many of the things he says about bitcoin, I still don't think it's fair what the US justice system is doing with it


source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/roger-ver-tax-fraud-charges

From what I could understand, Roger Ver is a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis since 2014 and the accusation that is being made against him, it talks about a crime from 2017, so it is strange that the US justice system is persecuting the guy 10 years after he changed his nationality. It appears that the US justice system is trying to impose itself on the justice system of other countries, as if laws and courts did not exist in other countries as well. In the case of CZ, it also seems that the US justice system is punishing him to show the world that they are superior. for example he paid 4 billion and showed regret, so why are they still sentencing him to 4 months in jail?

A real joke. I think the US government was more interested in getting money from Binance and nothing more. The sentence is just to deceive the public that Changpeng Zhao also faced physical punishment. I have seen people suffer stiffer punishments for lesser offenses. Maybe it I a warning for others to keep finds aside for settlement when the government comes for them.


It is risky to keep large sums in exchanges. You can use them for trading but they are ideal places to keep your funds for a long. They are controlled by individuals who can mismanage funds which could make them go bankrupt. The platform could also be seized at any time since they are centralized. It is better to keep your coins in an open-source noncustodial wallet.

This system is never gonna succeed if you don't wash the tyrants out.

The 4-month sentence must have been the reason for panicking that caused the price to go down. Right?

I doubt our coins to be in their custody though. They don't have access to the binance.com but only binance.us AFAIK however it would not be surprising if they also request to have access to the users in the main website because there are US citizens trading there before the regulations.  CZ seem a hostage.

You get 3 month for hitting on an old lady.

Don't sell your bitcoin. Use it for creditscore.

And one more thing. Roger is more of a Jesus now than ever!

Do you even realized that CZ is not the CEO of Binance anymore right? He step down to avoid being dragged down the exchange with his case which is effective since the exchange is operating normally despite the legal charges to CZ. His “4” is really effective on mind conditioning his blind follower to absorb the impact of his sentence since this will cause a major setback on exchange if CZ doesn’t condition his followers properly just like what happened to FTX.

CZ pleaded guilty yet no one is panicking since BNB price is still near peak while the exchange still have a huge trading volume which is a clear sign that this news is already not relevant anymore to the exchange.

Same thoughts as well, the government want to have a target on most of the giant bitcoin exchanges, users and then frustrate them in other to get other investors discourage about bitcoin, which is something I will like us to consider well that government could be devising some means to attack users, but the mistake they are making is to start with exchange because a reasonable user eill not habe his entire asset with exchanges, instead on a non custodial wallet, as you have said, more are still coming, but the next one may be a big one that might hit the exchange users where they least expected, the earlier the better people understand ejy centralized exchange is not safe for them.

Four months is nothing, tbh. It goes away fast. They should've let CZ free, though. Especially when he paid a large fine and admitted he was guilty of money laundering. CZ even went as far as stepping down from his role as CEO of Binance. At least, his sentence isn't as bad as SBF's.

The US government has been targeting the crypto industry lately, so I wouldn't be surprised if they hunt down someone else next (Vitalik Buterin, maybe?). I've read somewhere on the forums that Roger Ver (BCH proponent, which is aka Bitcoin Jesus) was arrested for tax evasion. So you can see where everything is heading to. A good thing Satoshi Nakamoto never revealed his/her identity. Otherwise, he/she would be toast by now. :)

Do you know what's most interesting in this whole situation? I'd point at two things.
1. He obviously was accepting bitcoin from shady groups, hackers, sanctioned entities and so on, but never really faced anything besides fines. How many people do you know who are found guilty of something like a fraud or money laundering and don't get at least a mandatory year in prison? IMO this is one big extortion from the US gov. They know he's got money and he's willing to pay them off.

2. I thought he struck a deal last year and they still decided to prosecute him. IMO they wanted more money, or they wanted to suppress the price of bitcoin by going after him. This is obviously much bigger than CZ and Binance. This is about shaking out weak hands and allowing rich people who missed the first ETF wave to accumulate.

CZ is rich and he sees everything has a piece tag. maybe he bought those judges already 4 months after violating the law that will most likely cause a war if it's the sanctioned countries do it.

but i'm also speculating CZ is paying a huge amount for this and most probably he is going to make a deal in snitching those in the market. gonna be a disaster which CZ i can tell that CZ may not really be a friend of crypto. SBF was doing the same to save his ass.

When you are sentenced to 4  months in prison, you do not see a day in prison at all. First of all, I am %100 sure that he would simply just not go to USA and won't see a day in jail let alone prison. However, even in that case this just turns into money and you pay the money and you get out of this judgement, you do not go to actually see inside the prison, not for even a single day.

However, USA is actually making sense with this, normally I would call it a hoax and just say that USA is trying to pressure CZ into something, but yes there was actual proof that Binance as a company (maybe not CZ) was aware of the money laundering on their website and let it happen, which is fully illegal, hence it is normal that there is a crime here that needs to be pointed out.

The Binance CEO has really faced a lot of persecution from the government, he is like a lone sheep in the wilderness facing all the wolves.
This is more like giving a dog a bad name just so that you could kill it, it's purely a fight against the Bitcoin community and considering the fact that Binance is a leading CEX, they are fighting it with all their might. Luckily a four months sentence is not much, but it's a dent on his imagine and that is what they've been looking for, since the last prosecution ended in forfeiture.

I'm leaning towards no since their BNB should've taken hit the most if so. Further, 4 months ain't exactly bad as we can also see from CZ's happy face lmao -- assuming it's not an old photo taken to spice things up lol.

IDK about btc's price decrease tho, just took it as a post halving dump haha

Recently, I left Binance and withdrew all the funds. To be honest, for some reasons, they had frozen my account; later, they unfroze it but did not allow me to trade there. So I moved all the funds to my hardware wallet. Now there are no more funds in Binance, and I have almost secured all my funds with hardware wallets. Nowadays, I don't trust much in centralised exchange anymore. They can freeze all the funds for any reason. So you need to be very careful when using centralised exchanges, not just Binance. 

You are right, and you have made the right decision about your coins, not your keys; not your coins. Centralized exchanges has never been a trusted and secure way to store coins, they have the keys and they can confiscate your funds anytime or lose your money in fractional reserve 'scam'. If you don't want to lose your coins, then it should be offline and in your own self custody.

It's the same way the US prosecutors are going after decentralized platforms now like Uniswap. Heck, even the SEC say that ETH is a security. Whether centralized or decentralized, anything that has to do with crypto will always be up for scrutiny by the government. With the way government is moving, I have a feeling that they'd be going after more crypto businesses and firms in the near future as long as they've managed to convict one of the biggest KOLs in crypto (CZ), they'd want to go after others.

The former CEO of the popular central exchange Binance, C Z, has been sentenced to four months in prison. Since the sentence is only four months, there will be no change in the rules of the exchange and no negative impact on the exchange. Since CZ has already resigned as CEO, I don't think his prison sentence will have any negative impact on Binance Exchange.

I don't see the connection of privacy and CZ's sentence to 4 months in prison. And if using centralized exchanges is the weakest means on this community, then most of us have been weak but it's likely that everyone has used centralized exchanges. Anyway, as I am telling that there's no connection about privacy and CZ sentence and to add the fact, CZ is no longer part of Binance in paper as what he's told before because he had already resigned from his post on the company.

For sure, he already prepared for the worst, hence, he resigned from the company last Nov 2023. So it won't interfere from their business. He has new CEO so business will be the same for them.

Also, his lawyers are insisting to receive no prison time at all as he is coming from UAE, his family is living in this middle eastern country. And this country has no extradition treaty with the US. I guess, CZ knows where to live... ;D
 Source  (https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/4/30/former-binance-ceo-cz-sentenced-to-four-months)

He seemed to be well prepared with all of the possible consequences and I think that coming from a possible 3 years in jail, the lawyers were able to put it down to 4 months. That's actually a great job for them and they're able to do it legally. Some potential changes to Binance will come after he's got released from there and that's another story that we have to tune in but basically, an impact for the market is what I am waiting at that time.

Of course I agree with not leaving your bitcoins on exchanges but I don't see what this has to do with CZ's sentence, like if now that he's been sentenced the US government will confiscate all Binance users' funds... And talking about CZ, probably at the end his situation wasn't that serious because 4 months is pretty much nothing, usually in the US they go pretty heavy for this type of crimes, I guess they didn't have such a solid case after all.

I Like CZ. with his honest words "I'm sorry,"

Looking at the current market conditions and listening to some mainstream news that the Federal Reserve pauses interest rate hikes, remains at 5.25% - 5.50% but I have an assumption that the correction is still large, the potential can even touch 50K again or even deeper.

For the last point I agree because it involves our investment desires and it all comes back to us how much we care about our assets. So it will be very interesting to see what happens next in the market. :D.

Well, if I compare Cz to SBF, Cz will be more innocent than SBF, so the only thing that happened is that this US government seems to be using their power to harass whoever they want to harass. It's like I can't see that Cz has been abused.

Because if there is, then what happened to FTX should be the same with Binance? But this is not what is happening in Binance; instead, the community users of Binance are still numerous and, to be honest, So maybe his imprisonment is only 4 months; it seems like he is really just harassing Cz, and then the size of 4 billion dollars is already given for payment.

The funny thing is they only tell you what they wanna tell you, not what you wanna hear. This is just another strategy for the governments to make it look like they're intolerable but, CZ isn't serving time in jail, don't be a p***y y'all! There's no privacy guarantee on CEXs - atleast away from the gov after inducing the KYCs - so I'd say, it's unimaginably a route that has been charged of several money laundering cases ^{[just like you said]}, since they never had layeddown rule. $4 billion was enough to make the gov wheel away their initial penalty, as it is with every other criminal cases!

Oh man, your bitcoin in their custody? Whose bitcoin are you talking about though, everyone's? Or just the Binance users? Either way, that is false. Binance has not been seized or anything.


What is this, now people think they are not even allowed to say the word "mixer" on Bitcointalk.org? Guys, this is not Bitcointalk.ru. The forum's mission is "to be as free as possible", you can still talk about mixers. Not that it's relevant to this topic though.

Already the reason for creating Bitcoin was to stand as a decentralized means of exchange among Bitcoin holders and not for using centralized exchanges to exchange Bitcoin for fiat because if we keep exchanging Bitcoins to fiat that means we are still giving fiat value and the quest to achieve a Bitcoin adoption policy in our monetary system may will take much longer time.
Centralized exchanges is very risky because before you are allowed to use centralized exchanges you will be required to undergo KYC which includes your personal information which can be traceable and since the government is not completely in support of cryptocurrency means that everyone needs to be very careful when giving out personal data about themselves more especially those of us in the crypto industry because all the eyes of the government are focused on any loophole they will use to clampdown cryptocurrency though it is rather too late for them now because the awareness have gone beyond their imagination.

There is no mass adoption for BTC yet, and we cannot yet spend BTC on a lot of things, so people have to trade BTC for fiat when they need to. BTC is a 'free' currency, so do not tell people what to do with their coins.
There are p2p exchanges that you can use to trade BTC to fiat or to other cryptocurrencies without undergoing kyc. Here are some of them: https://kycnot.me/?t=exchange

I've also read and re-read what the OP wrote and I don't see any connection between CZ's ruling and our privacy rights. And CZ doesn't even have any connection to Binance anymore and users of this leading exchange have nothing to fear with this news.

What's more confusing is that many people were gloating when CZ was convicted and had to spend 4 months in prison. CZ hasn't done anything wrong to anyone nor stolen anyone's bitcoins like SBF did but why are so many people hostile towards him? It is true that talented and wealthy people are always envied and hated by petty people for whatever reason.

Light sentence for him, and he is lucky, although he had cough up billions already and cooperate with the authorities that's why the sentence is just 4 months, a slap on the wrist.

As for our Bitcoin, yes, although I don't see any connection as he already step down at Binance and so he don't have access to our Bitcoin. Nevertheless, it's bull run already and so it's better to have our BTC in our wallet in which we have total control, private keys and mnemonic phrase.

I think CZ got away with a very modest sentence (if that's the total sentence, based on all charges), good for him. That makes it seem that the crime wasn't a big deal, which can also be good for the reputation of Binance.
But CZ being in prison doesn't mean that Binance will stop working (especially when we're talking about the global exchange) or that people wouldn't be able to use the funds they have there. I'm all for self-custody and I don't keep funds on exchanges, but I'm just pointing out that this particular news on CZ probably doesn't affect the money on the exchange.

You're absolutely right, the matter on ground is a crime case, which I believe concerns CZ and Binance, it has nothing to do with hack or the exchange going under, the former CEO was fined heavily and given a very light sentence. I guess he'll serve his time, learn his lessons and count his loses, then move on, who knows maybe he'll come back and take over his job.

I think that the OP was just giving us a reminder about not trusting centralized exchanges, that they can go down anytime and sink with investors funds, not your keys not your coins, it's worth mentioning when we're talking about exchanges and crime.

It was actually a big deal because it's money laundering but with fame, money and influence, the sentence was lessened down and also where the charges against Binance were settled down with a hefty fine wherein that's became basis of many other countries where Binance operates. Anyway, Binance and CZ got away with it and so if he gets out of it, the sins were already paid for by him and his company and whatever his next moves, we'll see.

We shouldn't keep our funds even on Binance. But CZ is not anymore connected to Binance in paper because it's Richard Teng that has replaced him as the CEO of the company. But we do not know how the things in paper does with these kind of positioning but I'm pretty convinced that he's still connected to them even if there's this succession and resignation that has been announced before.

Not your keys, not your coins... the exchanges, when used, shall be a means to just purchase and withdraw, in my humble opinion.

4 months is a joke. Normal guys go to prison for a much lighter offense and have been spending years on prisons that are barely liveable or acceptable for human conditions. Even if CZ goes to prison, a lot of his people will still run the company and people's funds will not go anywhere. And since the CEO is under the microscope for wrongdoings, the US government will certainly keep a microscopic eye on Binance just to ensure that no anomalies or irregularities will happen to the company's operations while the big boss is away.

This is likely never to happen. Exchanges rely so much on the public perception, they just like banks want to feel as safe, welcoming and easy to use so the customer does not have to worry about anything. CZ returning at any level in the management will undermine that and give the exchange a bad rep. Many customers may not mind, and may see it as a strike back at the system, but it's not a risk Binance will want to take.

I wonder if CZ now is being imprison like I Imagine him being held together with other criminals is such low balls for the Government. Anway CZ seems smiling with the results. You think the jail isnt too comfy for CZ, probably he is on special room waiting and doing trading on that room. Hopes the media shows it cause it might be another play without knowing about it.

4 months is a joke, but to get those 4 months CZ had to pay a fine of $4 billion, and that amount is no joke. Also, you might have missed something: CZ is no longer the leader of BInance nor does he have any connection to Binance. The world's largest exchange is run by Richard Teng.

Regarding the US government paying attention to Binance, I think they have been targeting it since FTX collapsed, they tried to punish Binance.us, then CZ. CZ went to jail and he will be free in 4 months, and this has no effect on Binance or their users, everything is working fine, don't create Fud.

It won't have any impact on Binance exchange. But BNB's market prices could be affected. At least in the short term. After all, investors/traders quickly react to mainstream news/events. I'm confident Binance will become bigger and stronger than ever after this fiasco.

CZ might not be CEO anymore, but he still has an influence over the crypto community. He's loved by many, unlike his counterpart (SBF). Who knows? Maybe we'll see CZ back in the crypto business. We can't predict the future, so lets hope for the best. ;D

Looks like Jack Dorsey could be next on the jail list. Regulators apparently seem to be fighting over how to go after him given his enabling of censorship on behalf of the government. His company processed transactions for nations helping them get around economic sanctions. I guess we see now if Jack is an agent for the government or if he’ll be joining CZ is summer camp.

Despite the mix-up of things from the ops, let me make a point for what I understand from this thread which is about CZ sentence and it effects on those using binance, the truth is that CZ already resigned from the COE seat of the exchange and the crime he is sentenced for is way back and not recently.


So the exchange have nothing to lose and those that use binance won't lose custody of they bitcoin holdings on the exchange because of his sentence.

I personally use Binance exchange and I give this exchange the most importance as my trading platform. However, after CZ was sentenced to 4 months in prison, I personally withdrew all funds for the time being. If the situation deteriorates ahead and at any time any untoward incident is likely to happen. We have faced such situations in the past especially in the month of November 2022 SAM BANKMAN had a popular exchange platform FTX scam where my account with all funds was frozen. I don't want to go through such bitter experience again that's why I have taken precautions and I have already withdrawn my funds.

I think it was implied that CZ will plead guilty to some charges so he can get a light sentence. Potentially even skip any jail, while Binance continues to survive. Albeit with greater compliance and stricter rules to follow this time around. I do think they tried to make an example out of him because for sure there are exchanges that have committed greater crimes than Binance just allowing users in via VPN. They just wanted to show to crypto executives that if they don't follow laws to the letter it might bite then later. Ofc this level of scrutiny hasn't ever even been applied to stock markets.

Even if he were still the ceo, nothing would have happened to binance. In my opinion, the prosecutors and maybe the judge and the courts are really trying to make an example of CZ because he failed to an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program at Binance.

Over here I know that the government is watching closely with what is happening in the US. They already said it that binance was supporting laundry money laundering.

As if he sees the writing on the wall, Jack Dorsey has announced that his company Block will now be purchasing Bitcoin every month moving forward. This move somewhat mirrors Microstrategy but the timing is a bit interesting to me as just earlier today there started being news reports that Jack Dorsey could be next in the state attack on crypto.

Oh wait, looks like i missed out the news that he stepped down. Looks like i worried for nothing that related to CZ sentenced.

The feeling of safety you get when you know all your Cryptocurrencies are sitting in your own Custody is incomparable to any of the comfort a Centralized Exchange provides to their Customer.  To be honest.  I have no problem with the people who use Centralized Exchanges voluntarily accepting the risks it takes.  But I will never understand why people STORE their entire Cryptocurrency Wealth over there with out any worries.

Am sure that the exchange, Binance would get to function well despite the absence of CZ. Binance still remains one of the best exchanges to use and if changes like this, that is as a result of court conviction lingers much, we may have to jump ship and use an exchange that suits our portfolio well.
For even self custody, one would have to acknowledge the minimum amount that can be received or sent to the wallet of choice.

CZ already officially stepped down as CEO months ago, and he did it exactly to prevent any possible bad outcome from the sentence he was going to get. Binance has already been operational without any problem for months since he renounced, and companies big like Binance don't rely on one person, they are like machines, they keep going. Even companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Apple... They could lose their CEO one day to the other but nothing would happen to the whole company.

You surprised me with your remark and assessment here, are you now advocating for an insane/bad world? What I think here is that you are finding excuses for bad activities to be happening unabated which is not fair at all. Binance and CZ which are directly involved in this never disagree with the US government, is it you and others who now know that the guy did nothing? This means that as rich as CZ and Binance are, they can't defend themselves if truly they are not guilty? C'mon!!!

What I've realised about some of you guys is that you want an entirely free system where there is no law/restriction, but that can only be advocated when there will not be crimes. Is that possible that there won't be crimes? No. This is why I would even love it if the government could regulate the cryptocurrency world better to avoid illicit flows that can aid trafficking, terrorism, drugs and many more. It is we who should be thankful that strong countries like the US have not banned cryptocurrency yet. supporting and cooperating with them is not too much to ask for. Not in a simple case like this.

I agree with @EarnOnVictor here, rare but true ;)

I hate defending CEX anyway, they are all profit-making companies, and I use Binance myself despite everything but even long before CZ pled guilty, it was public knowledge that Binance Support Staff knowingly helped people to launder money.

This is not about crypto this is about blatant violations of law. Your control on crypto never got better or worse, you wanna trust SAFU?

Did you know if you message support in some channels, they even teach you how to bypass KYC? On their own platform?

One of many things Binance staff were trained to do to bring new customers on. Including fake IDs etc.

Why you think CZ pled guilty? Because he knew he's wrong.

I think it's normal for those who have specificity and other reasons maybe during the trial CZ had ethics and cooperativeness so that the judge changed his mind not to impose a sentence longer.


At least all the processes are already underway and there has been a decision for CZ as millions of people are following the case as well. The public also hopes that all will be more honest and good, especially their countless users today.

He's not the CEO anymore, he stepped down months ago when the issues in Binance were piling up and that jail time for him isn't a lot anyway, I like to think that this is just a show of power for the authorities that even CZ is not untouchable by the law. Pretty sure that it will be a breeze or a bad vacation for CZ there, it will eventually pass and things will chill down for Binance after the dust settles.

You forgot the part that CZ isn't any normal man, he's a billionaire and former CEO, he's got friends in high places so the influence that lead to the sentencing is definitely not something that a normal person would be able to afford, another thing about this is that those that are in prison for long for minor infractions are people that are waiting arraignment, basically they're all innocent people that are waiting trial but with such a bad justice system, it's taking forever. Definitely, that's what US does with companies after all, I wouldn't be surprised if FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, and CIA already has something to do with Binance already

Do you believe in it or do you just really want it?

In fact, it is completely irrelevant whether that CEX will exist for another 40 years or will fail in 4 months, just as it is irrelevant that CZ paid for his freedom with over $4 billion, while he earned at least x10 that much all those years when he worked in a way that he bypassed laws not only in the US but in every country where he provided services. Usually, after such a fiasco, things go downhill in any serious business where the client thinks logically, but fortunately for CZ, the people who need his services do not (mostly) behave logically.

If dominance of Binance in CEX market place and cryptocurrency market becomes bigger, it will be worse. We need more decentralized, more choices to purchase, trade our bitcoins and cryptocurrencies. We don't want too much centralization in Binance or only some big exchanges.

Decentralized is future we aim at but it will be harder with more and stricter regulations from governments.

Reminders about risk of storing bitcoin on a website, a service are here for many years. People don't lack of warnings to be informed about this risk but they just ignore risk and store their coins on CEX.

Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5421039.0)

Most threats in resulting to lost of bitcoin investors funds has mostly come from the centralized exchanges and the historical facts about how the exchange platform CEOs are being charged and pleading guilty onto the accuses is nomore becoming encouraging to have their assets saved in there.

Right in time if you're not I control of your funds then it's assumed not your funds untill it gets to you. This is just as your money in the bank which the government are at the topmost decision making of your you can get reach to your money all because you don't have a private key to keep it out of accessibility to the government.
So, this should really serve as warning for those who still have their funds in the CEX. Hence the DEX have you all the private security measures to have your funds safe and secured under your commands.

We need more Decentralized exchange for us to easily change our crypto to fiat or vice versa, most of us are aware that not our Keys not our Coins.
Bitcoin or crypto was created for anonymity but it seems that most of us are throwing it away because of the restrictions and cex dominance.

Do you know what's even worse? Besides the fact that CZ paid the fine and admitted his guilt, he may have done something else - and that something is complete control over all transactions on his CEX for those who are of course interested. CEXs are actually very desirable for the authorities, all they need is to gain control over them, and then they have control over most transactions.

I am sure that your money on Binance will be safe for now. However, we don't know what Binance's condition will be like in the future, so just as a recommendation, it's best not to put all your assets on their services, only put a few percent there, the rest you can put your assets in a custodial wallet, because it's much more secure.

Sometimes we cannot judge them since that's the only way for others to convert their bitcoins conveniently and easily for the sake of getting cash quickly but as we can see right now, is slowly being targetted by the governments and it seems like they don't stop until they fully have the control over crypto industry. I agree, if we only get to support some legit decentralized exchanges like how we used to be, we can subside drastically the number of threats created by SEC every day. The best thing to do right now is exert all effort to stay away from the things they prohibit us or else one day we get to be in the same situations as these guys arrested for the same reasons.

I hope this crusade continues to ring in everyones ears because people will always do what they want no matter you share the bad side of centralized exchanges to them. Centralized exchanges looks simple and easy to use but the simplicity comes with a cost and that cost is not been able to be the custody of your privates keys and in a situation where unforseen event happens, you will be locked in with the rest of the people that love custodial platforms than self custody.

Funny enough, if CZ finally comes out of prison, he will be celebrated and the trust will even increase more but what many people don't understand is that the fight against custodial platform isn't about the trust, is about what will happen later that will is going to beyond their power to handle. If you check Binance reserve today, the Bitcoin is still in billions of dollars like nothing really happen. Sigh!

There lies the problem. It was just in the early days that bitcoin was used the way it ought to be used, as bitcoin adoption enlarges, different unbitcoin ways of using Bitcoin will surface. And these recent ways seem more friendly because they employ the social media and sweet UX trend.

• It is not many bitcoin users want to know about bitcoin beyond just buying and selling.
• Someone who cannot sign contracts and use open non custodial wallets have no business with DEX.
• Many newbies are introduced to exchanges as the first place to create accounts
• During mempool congestion, exchanges become our friends, so we can't do without them.

This is why we still marry with the government and his privies. It's a long journey.

Doing business with the USA has always been a nightmare, gambling companies avoid this market for their  strict regulations , forex brokers are avoiding this market too and now seeing an indirect attack on one of the big names of the industry says it all.. these guys don't like things that they can not take control of and the Binance CEO taking the fall could mean our US friends would be sidelined from accessing services from one of the best centralized exchanges in the future and it's a big blow as far as I know. .. And besides with the nature of how cryptocurrencies work very few companies can actually escape this money laundering tag, but am certain we shall find a way around this and continue as if nothing ever happened.

For the title, you still have the choice to move all your funds under your possession, if you're delaying which is your call and prepare to face the consequences.

Now coming to the subject of this discussion, money laundering is crime which should not be tolerated but these authorities doesn't seem to care about stopping the people who abuse it but just trying to get the services down completely. Let's say someone poisoned milk while packaging so instead of finding one who did they just cancel the milk supply entirely.

If you think that we needed more decentralized exchanges then can you tell me the ones you are using? Many people especially investors do not bother about the decentralized exchanges because the time of transferring a coin from one wallet to another with fee trying to swap to another coin can be annoying and one can mistakenly use the wrong or fake project address which could end up in loses.
The decentralized exchanges are good to use but many newbie's and investors are not adopting the use because they could see it as a waste of time and money.

Just like not your pin/password, not your fiat in banks right? Whenever I read people make that assertion of just buy and immediately withdraw out I know those who aren't trading. It's that simple. By the way, what tells you you can't lose your coin even in your noncustodial wallet? This space is full of uncertainty or haven't you read about campaign managers here who got their wallets hacked?

It’s more like a plight for the government to have an in on the affairs of exchanges out there where the centralized exchanges would be obligated to allow government agencies have absolute control of exchanges by some policy. Binance is centralized and would always be liable to certain attacks.
Everything just plays in line with, you get too big, you become a game for the government to concentrate their attacks on.

While it might be just 4months sentencing, it should rekindle in the minds of users the risk associated with having your asset left hanging on centralized exchanges. I swipe of the sickle and your cut off from your asset.

For how long will the government want to control our privacy? It is really getting worst everyday like can't everyone just live their lives without the influence of the government? Four months sentence isn't that a joke? Should have been called four months detention rather than sentence but no matter how long they continue to fight crypto enthusiasts, someday they gonna get tired.

However, four months sentence is just like no sentence at all but I don't think this development should cause any panic among people that trust and performs operations using binance and another thing is to make sure your coin get the best security it can by not storing more of your coins on exchanges or rather not store at all. This is literally one of the many reasons why holdling is the sure way to go because more of the reasons why people keep using exchanges is to convert their Bitcoin to fiat which is not too good as we are looking forward for a crypto friendly atmosphere to make daily transactions instead of fiat. We can only achieve that when we have hold a lot of Bitcoin in our custody. Say no to the use of exchanges to store valuable assets like Bitcoin when you can literally hold them in a non custodial wallets be it cold or hard wallets depending on the size or amount of your holdings.

I see a lot of people always talking about privacy, protecting their assets from centralized exchanges, they only use DEX, non-custodial wallets and say no to CEX. But I really want to know if they really use DEX for all their trading, or are they just lying and secretly using centralized exchanges? DEXs gives us privacy, but it clearly has many shortcomings compared to CEXs and that is why it has not yet been able to become popular or compete fairly with CEXs. Using CEX is nothing to be ashamed of, but why are so many people denying it? As long as we use them sensibly and avoid storing too many assets on them, there is nothing to fear or be ashamed of when using CEXs.

That's really depend on the users, I see some are lying and some are genuine.

Of course it's up to anyone choice whether they want to use DEX or CEX, but just remember CEX could froze your coins and your identity could be compromised if they got hacked.

IMO, what most people do is they trade in both CEX and DEX, they only show small amount holdings in CEX, while most of their coins only traded in DEX.

If the government are thinking about attacking the exchanges, then i don't think we should have an issue with that, because we had never wanted to have the use of centralized exchanges in the first place for our privacy and safety of our coin, all we wanted is to make use of a decentralized exchange and that is all, we are going to have full control over our asset and exchange it with the use of p2p, i don't know why many feels more comfortable with the use of a centralized exchange in the first place.

The liquidity on DEX is very small and insignificant compared to CEX so it can be said that there are still some users using DEX, but what I don't understand is why so many people lie about their use of CEX? Using CEX doesn't make us criminals, why don't we dare admit we use them?

I do not deny the risks of using CEX, but we should also not deny that CEX provides us with many features and services that are completely superior to DEX. As I said in addition to privacy protection, DEX cannot be compared with CEX in terms of transaction fees, transaction speed...and many other useful services.

On the contrary, I personally believe that the majority are using CEX more than DEX, only a small number of users are using DEX and the majority are bitcoin maximalists.

That's because it can be easily done, and people trust centralized exchanges more because they are supervised by the government, especially institutional investors and or new investors who have just jumped in, they will always use CEX compared to DEX, the easy choice is that they can withdraw their money to their own bank account, I heard that from my friend who has only been a crypto investor for 1 year.

Some other people they store their BTC in CEX only temporarily and keep it in their personal wallet if they aim for long-term investment, the average person using CEX is day traders or other short-term because maybe for them it is much easier than using DEX, of course this goes back to their respective knowledge.

BTW 4 months jail is not a punishment in my opinion, it's more like a temporary exile. ;D

I'm sorry but I don't understand your point: are you implying that Binance is just a cover for money laundering? The whole exchange has been created with that idea? They make billions just from the commissions, without even considering all the other revenues, CZ is a multibillionaire thanks to BTC and BNB, which is directly linked to the exchange, why should he (or whoever is in control) keep doing something illegal when you are already making a ton of money legally? Back in the days the exchanges took the rules very lightly, now they are paying, but that doesn't mean they keep doing it. Of course it's impossible to completely prevent money laundering but at least they are trying to limit the operations as much as they can.

Centralized exchanges work under government regulations, and the government is fine with that, they give them the info they want and the government do not usually try to close down services like that. Centralized exchanges are charged when they do not comply with government regulations, especially on kyc/aml or if they are accused of fraud or related offences.

Take note that so many people use centralized exchanges because it is 'convenient' for them, however p2p exchanges offer better privacy and security, but both centralized and decentralized exchanges are going to co-exist.

Imho people don't want to admit it because they are often hypocrites. It's against whole cypherpunk ethos to use highly centralized services. While they like to preach about decentralization and privacy it's shameful to admit that they actually use them for fiat ramps, or what ever reason. Might be liquidity too, but i don't see that as a huge problem for big tokens. Unless they are whales that is.

It's also convenient, as they can provide the level of security that would cost an individual a fortune. And people can often access to their CEX account even if they lose the password and 2fa and phone. In comparison, losing your own privatekey is game over for your funds. And many of us lose their important stuff all the time.

And like you said. Cexes are cheap. Especially if you are dealing with eth or something like that. If you aren't rich, it might not be worth it to withdraw them or god forbid use dex for buying and selling. And saving too much money with those can become even more expensive when sales aren't going trough.

With all of the ETFs and mass adoption at this point in all other countries with ETFs and just Bitcoin in general more and more people are new to the game and I don’t think many of them recognize the importance of securing your coins and even keeping them off exchanges. If you do keep on an exchange hopefully it won’t be there for too long- and to your point using an exchange just like basically puts you right in view, finding out how to be more anonymous with Bitcoin will hopefully become less complex to the average user with time as new solutions unfold.

Some might have the wrong mindset that it's not safe if it's not in your custody, I agree but that doesn't mean every exchange will manipulate your assets. Some are gently running taking proper precautions to protect funds, they ensure funds are SAFU that's where a new concept like the Reserve Fund derived. Exchanges like Bitget have insured users' assets through another layer of security of the User Protection Fund. Hence it also depends on the factor which exchange are you using and if it's well protected.

Of course. Decentralization is the way. We can't patronize monopolies in the crypto/Blockchain space. The less power/influence CEXs have over the industry, the better. Binance dominated the market for long with its shady practices. Now it's ultimately paying the price. I don't think it will go away that easily, but we can say its dominance is diminishing by the day. Especially with CZ out of the picture.

I'm yet to see if BNB (powered by BSC) will survive. It's been having a hard time trying to attract new projects into it. Solana and Ethereum are leading the race. If Binance exchange fails, you can say bye-bye to BNB for good. Who knows what surprises we'll find in the future? :)

If I remember correctly, binance's dominance is still over 50% in the market, I don't think they will lose their dominance anytime soon. They are still doing very well compared to other exchanges even though they no longer have CZ. And even if Binance loses its dominance or disappears, there will be another centralized exchange to replace it. Complete elimination of CEX is impossible, and they will increasingly dominate this market as government regulations are enacted. I don't think the idea of a completely decentralized market is possible.

Surprised he was only jailed for four months, people who have dealt with the same crime for less than the amount involved in this case get years and years, and this is after they have paid their fines too, which I believe ChangPeng did before in hopes of not facing jail time.

In that regard, you're right this goes to show that just keeping your money in exchange wallets are a massive death sentence, we're only able to survive by the skin of our teeth this time because Binance is secured financially and would not lose to bank runs and stuff like these. If it was a different exchange, (as evident with FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried who is jailed for 25 years) we would've been fucked sideways lol.

Anywho, hope this becomes a wakeup call for the newbies and people who are like me once upon a time, die-hard fans of Binance and internet protector of CZ to maybe check and transfer all their assets in their cold wallets.

Binance doesn't have any issue with our country. It's just this present administration that has an issue with Binance and cryptocurrencies in general. I believe you would've realized that now and with the OKX thing too. I believe this attitude is likely to spread to many more exchanges. If Binance had an issue with Nigeria, it would've frozen assets belonging to Nigerians on its platform long time ago. Nigerians still can trade their cryptos on Binance till date. It's just that we can't convert to the local naira. That's all. This shows that government was the one that asked Binance to remove the naira pair on its P2P. It's the same naira pair removal thing on OKX.

We are still saying the same thing and what you explained still means that Binance has issues with Nigeria since the stances and policies of the government make Nigeria and whatever is happening in it or related to it. As for the OKX, I received the news with a heavy heart, but according to the latest meeting with the new SEC's DG, I realised that it has a presence in Nigeria, unlike Binance. And according to the Punch newspaper today, it was one of the stakeholders that joined the virtual meeting with the DG and it was claimed that OKX did not stop the P2P on their platform by force or threat but for solidarity with the government.

But I still wonder what that solidarity is for. Maybe it's because they have a presence in the country and want to obey the law of the land. But I doubt if some of the other exchanges will yield unless they sue them. Let's see how that unfolded over time. However the issue of Binance with the government is far different from that of the OKX with the government, you can't just compare that.

There's no doubt about that. CEXs come and go, but crypto/Blockchain tech persists due to its decentralized design. 50% market dominance still makes a difference. One would hope those numbers decline as new competitors get in the game. The less influence an exchange has over the crypto market, the better. Binance might survive after CZ's departure, though. Only time will tell. As long as they're able to please the regulators, nothing else matters.

All in all, Self-custody is the way to go. Especially with many incidents surrounding centralized exchanges lately. Maybe CEXs will adopt a hybrid model (half decentralized, half centralized) to help increase confidence/trust among traders and investors alike? :)

I believe it is the same with other fiat currencies. They removed them according to the government's mandate.A lot of traders are actually using the p2p services of binance because of the credibility of the platform. Now, these people need to find alternative trustworthy p2p platforms.
However, I highly believe that binance management is working on complying the regulations of those countries, in prder to get those traders back.

Well, I believe that many exchanges are afraid now to avoid suffering the same fate that Binance is suffering at the hands of the Nigerian government, especially the way they abducted their executives in a very shameful manner. Going forward, many exchanges will delist the P2P activities on their system but many will still dare the government and continue to offer such a service. To me, I see P2P as no trouble at all, only that our government is just looking for what to blame as usual. Even if the centralised exchanges stopped the P2P service, what about the decentralised exchanges, will they enforce such a law and instil the same fear in them as well? That will not work because even if they block them through the ISPs in the country which they have a say over, we will definitely switch to VPN usage and it will be business as usual for us all. I will not be a party to the exchanging of my cryptocurrency through the local exchanges as the government wants, that will only amount to extortion even as the government doesn't care about anyone in my country but themselves.

As for the Binance issue with them, well, Binance continues to talk softly about this and claims they are ever cooperative but our government is proving stubborn. They are being stubborn about what they will lose financially entirely upon if care is not taken. The CEO of Binance even graced an interview with PunchNG a few days ago and the guy was brilliant in his remarks. He alleged the government demanded a bribe of $150m from Binance to trash the case, which I believe since this is the way of our government. The Nigerian government is so unwise and I don't see Binance accepting the NGN service anymore, at least until there is a change in government.

It's true that we shouldn't store our assets on centralized exchanges but I don't see any connection between CZ going to jail and storing assets. In addition, comparing FTX with Binance or CZ with SAM is also quite lame, why did FTX collapse, then SAM went to jail and CZ went to jail but binance still dominates the cryptocurrency market? This is really a lame and somewhat unfair comparison for Binance as they always try to do their best and customers are always satisfied with them, while FTX was previously a scammer with a plan.

I'm not defending anyone or encouraging anyone to store their bitcoins on centralized exchanges but we should evaluate things fairly and clearly. By the way, are you sure you're not using binance or any centralized exchange?

If there is a crime, there should be punishment. If a mistake has been made, there must be a response. Since Bitcoin is not tied to a person or exchange, it will always continue on its way. Such events do not pose a threat to Bitcoin's existence, they just slow down its progress.

There is nothing to worry about and such events can happen at any time. Bitcoin is not weak enough to be affected by such situations. Paying attention to the exchanges you use and how you store your coins is something every investor should do.

We keep all hope alive to reach the top and also bend down to show hard workings for ourselves. Some developing countries have issues with Binance and we've watch where that have led us to. We should always provide means to sort ourselves out because none of us will become very focused when our goals start hitting targets. It still bothers me how Binance is been linked with one problem and another. It have entangled with one problem or the other.

Binance is still by far the best exchange out there, I think it's almost normal that, of course, is the number one target of the governments. I never understood when people was saying that the US would make Binance close, that's exactly the reason they created Binance.us, to avoid any problem with all the crazy US regulations and the SEC, that keeps attacking everything that has to do with cryptos.

Well, the risk of loss is higher now that both CZ and Binance exchange got scrutinized by the US government. It's advised to move coins out of Binance just to be safe. If FTX repeats itself, you can say bye-bye to your BTC for good. Self-custody is and will always be the best choice for storing your Bitcoin. The only problem is that you can't trade your BTC without leaving it in the hands of a third party. DEXs are not a solution, especially with their low liquidity and terrible user experience. It's this reason why many people don't bother leaving their coins in centralized exchanges.

At least, CZ got a better deal than SBF himself. He'll be out in no time. If Binance survives, you can expect it to adopt stricter KYC and anti-money laundering policies to please the regulators. This means more pain for everyday crypto traders/users like me. Perhaps, we'll be seeing CZ back in crypto affairs after prison? Only time will tell. :D

I'm seeking assistance to build a website and secure funding for my case. I need help from a skilled website builder who has knowledge of Bitcoin-related legal matters. My situation involves a significant injustice where I faced 16 months in prison for merely purchasing Bitcoin and communicating about it through text messages.

Please contact me for more details. The case details are available under United States v. Goklu (1:19-cr-00386) on CourtListener. I am currently appealing this case in the 2nd Circuit.

Here is the Prison ID for comparison: [Prison ID]. My case involves a total of $50,000 across all accounts over 15 years, all of which are legitimate earnings. I have been struggling with a public defender for 5 years.

In addition, I am referencing another individual's case, Chanpeng Zhao, who is also facing legal issues related to Bitcoin and is likely to be imprisoned soon pending appeals.

I am seeking assistance to create a fundraising website specifically for my appeal in the 2nd Circuit, which is one of the top-level U.S. federal courts. This situation feels incredibly unjust, akin to being cursed by drug dealers right at your doorstep, while I am targeted for my Bitcoin holdings.

My case represents a fight against such injustices, unlike other Bitcoin-related cases where individuals have pleaded guilty. I believe my treatment has been disproportionate and unfair, causing significant personal hardship.

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adding chanpeng bop id i have same case is in appeal but probaly will be in priosn soon, if those appeals goes thru then those rich btc famous guys all in trouble just withdraw your own wallet is makes you criminal enough to go jail.
here is link that CZ is had sentence already not in custody yet.
my 5 years of court and one year of tracked by FBI all for total 50k capital is complete horro story and killing of justice.

https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/
CHANGPENG ZHAO
 type name and surname
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68026006/united-states-v-zhao/
CZN
goklu btc case
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16132225/united-states-v-goklu/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc
THIS CASE IS ALMOST FIRST GOES TO APPEAL IN ENTIRE UNITED STATES FEDERAL COURTS EVEN CZ ACCEPT GUILTY OFFER LOST HIS CHANCE TO APPEAL.

Exactly, some bitcoin investors just suck at doing the safest way to convert their crypto so they use these exchanges to do it and it's much more convenient, and most of the time the risk almost always outweigh the benefit which is the convenience that's why even if you do want to try to tell them and convince them that storing their bitcoins in those hot wallets/centralized exchanges, they won't follow through because they don't mind the risk involved in it.

I think that jail time, even though it is only 4 months has significant implications. In my country, several restrictions are placed on people with a criminal record.

Seeing that it was a financial crime, he might not be able to get work in a company in a financial capacity or form part of the executive board on certain commitees etc.

There might also be restrictions when it comes to the ownership of a firearm and/or immigrating to certain countries. 

I still think it's a good deal for CZ. Different countries have different restrictions for someone who has done time, some stringent, some not so much and some you can clean off after a few years of decent community service.

CZ should also have enough money stashed away that he may not need to look for work as normal people would, and any job he does get will be covert and more of a consultancy role than a financial manager or part of an open board. That will not get so much trust from the public.

One thing about this is that if CZ comes out of prison after his time and Binance remain functional by that time, the trust with Binance will increase, people who are planning to see Binance becomes top exchange to lower will be shame and people who might have panic and left Binance would go back and deposit money back into Binance, they will never practice self custody simply because they don't want, if they really want to, they have the means to buy and practice it but the just don't care.

I just hope any exchange doesn't just collapsed again like FTX, it happens between 2022-2023 but it looks like something that happen years ago and many people has moved on but creditors are sideline waiting to get their money back, they should be our significant lesson rather than just using exchange to keep coins that may vanish one day because we don't have power over to the private keys.

Yes - even after being sentenced, Shizu still seems to be doing well and her future is still very secure individually. I don't think he'll get into any more trouble once the case is over - but there's still a negative outlook towards him especially because of what's happened to him so far.

I think there are still plenty of developers who would want to hire him for any role in the future - so his finances are probably nothing to worry about. There was a reason why Shizu got a sentence of several months – perhaps her compliance in handling the case and also perhaps being willing to pay the fine.

True, at least enough effect on the mentality that experienced it due to the impact of the FTX Exchange collapse incident coupled with the weakness of the global economy at a time like now is enough to increase the burden on their minds as well.


CZ classmates still I think there are still many suggestions and opinions that can be consulted for those who need their thoughts. Yes. Although it sounds like only 4 months, CZ served a period of detention due to the mistakes he made, at least there are big consequences that must be borne by anyone who violates.

This same exchange binance has been facing a lot of challenges with other countries, you can consider Us as the number one, we have Canada, India and so many other countries whereby they have been taking it hard on the exchange to ensure its been regulated by them, the better for us to know the danger and implication that be be involved with he use of a centralized exchanges, i thought about that of mixers will be a lesson for many of us, even the CEX that have no privacy were under attacks from government.

Binance has its own policy regarding the use of the exchange they have. As long as this country accepts the policies that exist in Binance as a trading place which are very firm with the rules they have then it will be easy for that country to access the Binance exchange, but if a country doesn't If you agree with Binance's policies, there will definitely be many obstacles that will occur. Mixer is indeed used to launder money because there are several Mixer platforms that can be used without having to use KYC. Meanwhile, for Binance currently, those who have large amounts of money are required to complete KYC first to continue transactions smoothly.

I see your post as one with so many faults, my friend. First, when it comes to registration, licencing and regulations, Binance or any exchanges/companies do not have much say in a domain, they must obey the law of the land, period! It is either they cooperate or exit their business from the country. The law is the law and the constitution is the constitution, no one will change it for Binance or any other company. The only avenues they can have some opportunities are in tax relief/holiday and a few opportunities at the discretion of the country. Nothing more.

Not that Binance would say this is what we want and this is how we will do it and the country will keep mute. Who does that?

As for the m!xing services and others, they are nothing more than unlawful establishments, we have them in almost all facets of all industries. Well, I blame the world's government over this for their lack of coordination. If they can work in unity, then those services could be a forgotten issue sooner than we expect. And as long as they are serving people and not ghosts, that means they are visible and reachable, and for this, the hand of the law will reach them faster.

I am not sure but it becomes a trend as well when we're getting to the bull run. But just as you, I am also hoping that no exchange will collapse this time, a big exchange.

That's why if we're going to use exchange, just use them as an exchange and don't keep your funds there. We do understand that they don't give private keys.

But for the beginners, they might not be aware of it and that's why they have to be reminded about that.

Of course he does. I bet CZ has all of his money in crypto stored away someplace safe. He's not that stupid. The government may be able to confiscate Fiat (USD) and crypto on exchanges. But not self-custodied crypto (where you control the private keys).

Once CZ gets out of prison, he will enjoy spending his fortune. SBF will not be that lucky because of his longer sentence. He used customer funds, whereas CZ only allowed money laundering on Binance exchange (and paid a hefty fine in return). He saved crypto by taking responsibility and stepping down as CEO of the world's largest crypto exchange. Hopefully, we'll see CZ involved in crypto again after four months. Who knows what the future of Binance and BNB will be?

Well now CZ is going to begin his 4 month prison sentence in the US. It will be in a low-security prison that is for prisoners that do not pose any threat to others in there.
And even with his conviction he is still remaining positive. It is not alot of time only 4 months, I think he will come out a better person.
https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2024/06/03/the-founder-of-binance-cz-begins-the-prison-sentence/

Considering how heavy the authorities are when it comes to financial related crimes (Bernie Madoff, Jordan Belfort, Charles Ponzi, and Al Capone), 4 months seems to me like something that's not that long, I guess CZ needs to be the sacrificial lamb in all of this to save Binance. I'd also like to point out that your crypto (if you store some of it in Binance which isn't recommended but do what you want, it's your life) is still safe, just because CZ is in prison doesn't mean that Binance is gone, before the sentencing, he's already relinquished the CEO title so the exchange can still do it's work.

There are a lot of people on the forum who hate CZ because he created one of the centralized exchanges and went against the concept of decentralization that bitcoin created. But honestly, I don't see him as a bad person so I disagree with you when you say that hopefully he will become a better person after he gets out of prison. I bet if he had saved FTX from collapse he probably would have avoided this disaster. His imprisonment is just the repression and revenge of the US government against the dominance of binance, an exchange that does not come from their country and is not controlled by them.

I can not say on behalf of people who don't like CZ, don't like and hate is different and I think "hate" is too much.

Whey they don't like CZ?
If their reasons are like you said, they would don't like other people who are founders of other centralized exchanges and I don't think it is actual reason.

Possible reasons can be CZ created a quick successful centralized exchanges but he at the same time had some bad managements with his exchange and created opportunities for insider trading activities, scam projects to pump and dump.

His bad management is with Terra too, by allowing Do Kwon and his team deposited massive new minted tokens to Binance and dumped it. You should never allow any project that has their number of tokens on your exchange is bigger than its total or circulating supply. If something quickly change, they must have available tools to detect it, do their exchange audits automatically and freeze it.

You are greedy and invest in highly profitable projects, you are profitable and you think you are talented because you chose the right project.
But if you lose money and the project fails then you start blaming its creator and the exchange, is this really fair? Just like you always want privacy, don't want government control, you avoid taxes and don't want to comply with regulations, but when others scam you, you blame them for not protecting you. Do you find yourself being too greedy?

In addition, Binance or any exchange is just an exchange, meaning they only act as an intermediary. They have no obligation or responsibility to protect your money when you greedily invest in high-risk high-return projects.

Thankfully, my Bitcoin is not in their custody. First of all, I'm buying it on Bitfinex. Secondly, I'm not keeping it there, I'm using OWNR wallet for that. Keeping your coins on exchanges is a bad idea, I always knew that and FTX crash just made me more confident about that.

I am no so sure about that, he has been pretty much complying with the regulations, and at least tries to stay legit, but Binance does fight against all regulations that can't necessarily be forced upon them. Technically allowing money laundering could be because they chose to go with assumptions on what different regulations meant on that. And weren't actively reporting and kyc:ing and double checking every restricted country that used VPN.

And like you said, CZ isn't stupid. He knows that if he wants to hide the crypto, it's getting more and more harder to wash out that as legit money. And large amounts could take forever to wash, and will end up being more and more expensive. If he indeed has saved money/crypto, it's legit, reported and washed already. Not stashed in some transparent blockchain which is more and more under a microscope. Or god forbit opaque and private blockchain which would be nearly impossible to cash out in the future.