Binance billionaire founder, Changpeng Zhao, bags four months in prison for money laundering in the U.S.

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison in the United States of America.

Zhao was sentenced by Seattle-based U.S. District Judge, Richard Jones, on Tuesday, April 30, following his guilty plea to anti-money laundering law vi%lations.

Prosecutors had asked that Changpeng Zhao be jailed for up to three years when he appeared in a Seattle court as part of an effort by the Justice Department to clamp down on misbehaviour in the crypto space.

In his plea deal, Zhao agreed to step down as Binance’s CEO and pay a $50 million fine for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, as well as sanctions violations linked to users in Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.