Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, is poised for a court appearance on April 30 for sentencing following his guilty plea to a felony charge.
Amidst legal challenges, Zhao has teased a new education-focused initiative related to cryptocurrency or blockchain technology, emphasizing that it will not introduce any new tokens.
This announcement was made in a March 18 post on X, where Zhao hinted at revealing more details soon about the project.
Zhao’s resignation from Binance in November 2023 was a condition of a plea agreement with U.S. authorities, including the Justice Department, Department of the Treasury, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
This agreement came with a hefty $4.3 billion settlement payment by Binance and saw Zhao pleading guilty to a charge concerning the failure to implement an effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program at the exchange.
Following his plea, Zhao has been in the U.S., released on a $175 million bond.
His legal representatives have sought permission for him to visit his family in the United Arab Emirates.
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Zhao’s sentencing was initially slated for February but was postponed to April 30, raising speculations about his possible prison term, with some experts predicting a sentence of 12 to 18 months.
Since agreeing to the plea, Zhao has reduced his social media activity, mainly posting non-controversial holiday messages, making his March 18 announcement about the educational project a significant departure from his recent online behavior.
This has sparked curiosity among his followers, although the exact nature of the project remains unclear as of the announcement.
In addition to Zhao’s legal battles related to his plea, Binance, its U.S. counterpart Binance.US, and Zhao are also facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed in June 2023.
Binance.US described the SEC’s enforcement action as a critical threat in a March 5 court filing, highlighting the ongoing legal challenges faced by the exchange and its former CEO.
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