Yes, they can afford to pay that and they've got more money for sure because if they're able to pay and settle with that fine. It only means that they have a bigger pocket and that won't make them bankrupt because of it. And on this expenses, this isn't a loss for them but they can treat it as an investment and settlement because their operations can now go without interruption and you know that it's just like a public under the table matter.
If some company can afford it, it's definitely binance. But i don't believe that even they have that kind of money lying around. Large sums of money are usually tied to something. company shares, real estates, subsidiares or cryptos and stuff like that.
It is for sure part of their asset and shares and that's why they have decided to pay it with a slash to the asset that they have. It's worth billions and that's easy for them to liquidate which comes likely in Bitcoin and other cryptos that they own.
Question is: what assets will they be liquidating to afford it, and if it's cryptos, i am hoping they are doing otc trades, because 4.3 billion sell pressure is enough to tank almost anything.
They are a crypto exchange so it makes sense that they've done to liquidate it with their crypto assets. I don't have idea if they've got real estates or other tangible assets. But they are also investor of some companies that they've supported. So, it's like a combination of crypto and many shares that they have to other companies they are affiliated with.