Largest crypto exchange CEO arrested! Anyone getting deja vu?

[adaseb]

So as you all know they charged CZ and he stepped down. Most likely he will get arrested as he goes on US soil.

What I find strange about all this, is that it’s all familiar. Anyone know what I am taking about?

Remember Bitmex and it’s CEO Arthur Hayes who was arrested. What happened right after? One of the biggest bull runs in Bitcoins history.

History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.

[dothebeats]

Damn, I just read the news. How often would a CEO confess to some crime they commit? Money laundering isn't that big of a crime, but if you do it with billions, you are in for a treat. I wonder how the crypto world is feeling about this right now, because I am honestly in shock that he admits to it. I know that they are doing these things and then some, and are expert in playing it safe. But to be accepting the charges? That's something.

Hopefully it brings in good numbers for bitcoin, but I doubt it. It may even cause ripples of uncertainties in the crypto space, but only time will tell.

[Churchillvv]

I'm still in shock that he accepted such crime but my concern is what will be the effects of this resignation on Bitcoin and the crypto space at large.

I'm even afraid that there could be some hackers in this exchange from now cause CZ really tries to keep people's assets very safe.

[franky1]

So as you all know they charged CZ and he stepped down. Most likely he will get arrested as he goes on US soil.

from what i read he was charged a week ago and made a deal to plead in exchange for a cash settlement(punishment) to avoid jail/prison/extradition

a whopping $4.3billion penalty for binance and $50m for CZ personally

CZ has to pay his $50m plea settlement between now and february to get a reduced sentance (from years) to be instead 10-18months

binance has to pay(of the $4.3b):
$1.8Bill within 15 months  (overall fine for crimes)
$1.6bill within 6 months (forfeiture of profits/fee's of running the business)
$0.9bill within 30days (clawback of funds sent to IRAN)

it only became unsealed and newsworthy today
(last weeks charges filing)
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.328551/gov.uscourts.wawd.328551.1.0.pdf

(motion to unseal)
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.328551/gov.uscourts.wawd.328551.7.0.pdf

(yesterdays motions to plea)
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.328551/gov.uscourts.wawd.328551.9.0.pdf

CZ's "crimes"
1. operating a money transmitter service
2. not registering a money transmitter service
3. facilitating money transmits to iran

binance "crime"

[hatshepsut93]

The bad news is that Binance will have to pay over $4B and for that they will likely have to liquidate some BTC which would negative affect the price in short term. Also the largest crypto exchange admitting to violating the law is not good for the market, but at least Binance will only have to pay the fine and they are not getting shut down. Unless they don't have that kind of money and will file for bankruptcy.

[sokani]

Binance didn't crashed, It just CZ pleading guilty to a crime and it cannot be compared to what FTX bankruptcy did to the cryptosphere.

I must admit that with everything been thrown at Binance by SEC right from the onset, I never saw this coming and its really took everyone by surprise. I'm still trying to figure out how this recent development is going to affect Binance and their standing in the crypto space, and I hope it's not going to be the beginning of its downfall.

[Darker45]

I don't think BitMEX was as huge as Binance when the arrest happened. I also don't think Arthur Hayes was as influential as CZ. And whether they're equal or not, I can't see a reason how it would be beneficial to Bitcoin's price. As a matter of fact, the price has already reacted. And it's moving southward.

Anyway, these are harsh punishments. And the fact that it involved a cryptocurrency platform must have contributed to its severity. I'm not sure if this was a wise decision on the part of CZ. Probably, if only to make sure that Binance stays afloat in a largely hostile environment, but what if he actually ends up in jail and Binance went bankrupt just the same? All these so-called sacrifices would all be for naught.

[Catenaccio]

Some information about BitMEX and their legal case in 2020. Their trading volume shrank a lot as consequence of the charge from the US. authorities.

BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes Leaves Role After US Charges
Coingecko's 2020 October Monthly Report

[franky1]

reading through the court docs. part of the deal/plea/settlement was binance to release CZ of his CEO title. and put in compliance officers for the next 3 years. so this is not banning binance from operating. its settling the legality of operating unlicenced and setting them up to be in compliance

[larry_vw_1955]

CZ's "crimes"
1. operating a money transmitter service
2. not registering a money transmitter service
3. facilitating money transmits to iran

binance "crime"

you don't think he should have to do jail time? those are very serious things. someone shouldn't be able to just pay their way out of time in the joint like that. sad to see...

[hd49728]

reading through the court docs. part of the deal/plea/settlement was binance to release CZ of his CEO title. and put in compliance officers for the next 3 years. so this is not banning binance from operating. its settling the legality of operating unlicenced and setting them up to be in compliance

They are going to be like BitMEX, will continue their operation after paying penalty fees to the US. authorities.

This is still a shock to Binance and they will certainly lose users to other exchanges and will struggle to get it back. It will take a lot of time for them to regain customers who leave their exchanges.

However I always believe in "What can not kill you, make you stronger". It can be applied for Binance too if they can go through this hard time, the hardest time in history of their exchange.

you don't think he should have to do jail time? those are very serious things. someone shouldn't be able to just pay their way out of time in the joint like that. sad to see...

We will have to wait till February when the sentence on him is announced to know about that.

[Odohu]

CZ's "crimes"
1. operating a money transmitter service
2. not registering a money transmitter service
3. facilitating money transmits to iran

binance "crime"

Thanks for this details. This make more sense now. Iran have always been blacklisted by most financial system probably the reason CZ followed the backdoor of rendering service to Iran through an unregistered  transmitter service. It is politics after all and CZ allowed himself to get involved.

I will call it a bad business decision by CZ and Binance considering the fact that they have always been on the US radar for long. Exposing himself and the business he lead to the US government might not end well for him since the US still controls a lot of things.

My major concern is how this will affect the entire cryptocurrency market because Binance is a leading figure in this space. Secondly, CZ stepping aside might lead to some form of risk in the future and I will advice everyone to be careful on the amount of funds kept in Binance for now.

[franky1]

CZ's "crimes"
1. operating a money transmitter service
2. not registering a money transmitter service
3. facilitating money transmits to iran

you don't think he should have to do jail time? those are very serious things. someone shouldn't be able to just pay their way out of time in the joint like that. sad to see...

plea settlement deal* if he pays $50m before february sentencing deadline
also his "crimes" were NOT of theft. rape, or murder.. in short no one was physically harmed..
its more bureaucratic "criminal civil violation" of moving money without US government consent to be a money mover

*still sketchy on this detail of possible prison time.. because the whole point of plea settlements is to get a deal to settle the case.
media is announcing upto 18months.. but reading CZ tweets he is not prepping for prison time but wanting to passively invest, do some work on DeFi and some mentoring..

[goldkingcoiner]

We warned people years ago, that this was coming. Keep your coins off centralized exchanges or other centralized platforms. Now we have all these exchanges getting "hacked", scamming their customers and going down after the law knocks their doors in for whatever reason they want. Now Poloniex users can't withdraw Binance is next in line. Anyone not holding their bags on their own wallet is at huge risk.

Although having said that, I understand the temptation of CEXs. They are easier, cheaper and simpler to trade on. I indulge sometimes, as well. Nobody is perfect.

But I would never put the full amount of all my money in centralized wallets.

[franky1]

We warned people years ago, that this was coming. Keep your coins off centralized exchanges or other centralized platforms.

it is  cautionary warning however the government have not accused, charged or made him plead to any claims of user fund fraud.
lets use CZ's words in his tweet

On that note, I am proud to point out that in our resolutions with the U.S. agencies they:

- do not allege that Binance misappropriated any user funds, and
- do not allege that Binance engaged in any market manipulation.

but yes best advice.. keep coins off an exchange.. an exchange should be 'value-in swap value-out' same day. its an exchange not a bank. its a exchange not a savings account. so do your exchanging and get funds out same day

[tech30338]

The typical US trying to hold everyone in the neck, to take control of everything, but the issue is bigger than that, Binance is big wall stopping the US from taking control of a big part of the crypto industry, and if they will not yield find something against them, this BlackRock and other big companies scrambling to enter into crypto is part of the US.

[Qiubell5]

I didn't think someone like Shizu could make a mistake like that. Because it is proven that his actions will definitely seriously damage the reputation he has built so far. Binance is also reportedly going to replace its current CEO. Apart from that, with the proven accusations leveled at CZ, the crypto exchange also experienced a decline in market capitalization. But perhaps this will not have an effect for long, because the decline in market capitalization is probably just a surprised response from crypto investors. So after this, I am sure that market capitalization on crypto exchanges will return to normal, and may even experience a higher increase in market capitalization.

[jrrsparkles]

binance has to pay(of the $4.3b):
$1.8Bill within 15 months  (overall fine for crimes)
$1.6bill within 6 months (forfeiture of profits/fee's of running the business)
$0.9bill within 30days (clawback of funds sent to IRAN)

This won't be a problem at all for Binance because their revenue generation per year will be around 20 Billion so they can clear the penalty even before the due date.

But if federal authorities snoop into something they won't let go until they burn it into ashes so investors and traders be aware of holding any funds in the Binance exchange hereafter.

[crwth]

This is big news and the cryptocurrency market would probably receive a big fallback with what is happening. A lot of people might have their money stashed in crypto and they need to at least liquidate it along with a big player like Binance.

I wasn't fully aware that they have this going on in the news. I probably haven't read much in this case. I did see the link sent by franky1 and it was just recently, November 14, 2023, when it was signed. So maybe not much news yet has spread?

What I'm curious about is with this going on, what would be the effect of it to us, individuals?

[larry_vw_1955]

plea settlement deal* if he pays $50m before february sentencing deadline
also his "crimes" were NOT of theft. rape, or murder.. in short no one was physically harmed..
its more bureaucratic "criminal civil violation" of moving money without US government consent to be a money mover

but how come he is subject to the US government at all? he's not an American citizen is he? he doesn't live in the USA does he? So his own country doesn't even punish him but somehow the foreign US government decides they are going to throw him in their jail if he doesn't pay up and he's not even an American.

 I know Binance had a site for USA members but I would hardly think that would make him become subject to being thrown in an American jail. its just a website.