The crypto market plunged after the head of Binance pleaded guilty

The crypto market reacted negatively after the CEO and founder of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao, popularly known by the initials CZ, pleaded guilty to charges brought against him by the US Department of Justice for violating financial regulations. rules and entered into an agreement, reports CBS.

“Binance Coin” (BNB) lost 5.9 percent and dragged other cryptocurrencies with it – Polygon fell by 7.8 percent, Solana – by 4 percent, Uniswap – by 3.8 percent, XRP – by 3.2 percent, ether – by 2.1, and bitcoin – by 1.5 percent.

Under the agreement Zhao to pay $50 million fine and resign as CEO of Binanceand the company itself, under another charge, must pay a fine of $4.3 billion.

“The markets are yet to make sense of what is happening with the onset of the US labor period,” said Michael Safai, co-founder of Dexterity Capital. “Most traders have never worked in a market that lacks CZ. It’s hard to imagine Binance losing its dominance, but it will open up space for new traders.”

After a year of investigation, authorities have determined that Binance has allowed “bad actors” to freely exchange funds on the platform and use them for all kinds of “dirty” deeds – from child pornography and drug trafficking to financing terrorist groups. Zhao, whose personal fortune is estimated at $23 billion, admitted that he had failed to enforce an effective anti-money laundering program on the platform.

US authorities hope Zhao’s confession and the conviction against the founder of the failed platform FTX (FTX) Sam Bankman-Fried will send a clear message to the crypto sector.

Binance became the largest crypto exchange in the world in part because of the crimes it committed. Now she must pay one of the largest corporate fines in American history,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a special statement.

At the same time, in a statement sent to BTA, Binance informed that by reaching the agreement, the company “demonstrates responsibility for past violations and allows it to turn the next page on a challenging but transformative chapter of growth.”

“With improvements in regulatory compliance and governance, we can begin to share our vision for the exciting future of Binance and the future of the crypto industry. We are confident that Binance will become a stronger company, and we are laying the foundations for the next 50 years,” the opinion also states.