Binance to pay $4.3 bn fines in US over money laundering, other violations

Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, is set to pay a settlement totaling billions of dollars, over violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, US authorities said Tuesday.

The company's agreements with the Treasury Department's agencies involve a civil money penalty of $3.4 billion, and a $968 million penalty involving the Office of Foreign Assets Control. These mark the agencies' largest settlements in history. Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao intends to plead guilty to violating US anti-money laundering rules and leave his position, according to court documents.

The deal could allow the company to keep running, according to a Wall Street Journal news report. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the penalties, and a five-year monitorship imposed on Binance, mark a "milestone for the virtual currency industry.

"Binance was created in 2017 and cornered much of the crypto-trading market, turning Zhao into a billionaire.Binance runs crypto exchanges and provides other services across the world, but it has taken a severe hit since crypto markets collapsed and regulators began probing the legality of its business.