While the penalty for CZ, the founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is increasing, it is requested that he be sentenced to 36 months in prison.
At this point, the US Department of Justice said in a statement that Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former chief executive of Binance, should be sentenced to three years in prison for his role in enabling the crypto exchange to violate federal sanctions and money laundering laws.
While the U.S. Department of Justice increased the sentence, CZ's lawyers argued that he should not be sentenced to prison, citing “the fine he paid and his acceptance of responsibility” and that instead of prison time, he should be released on measures such as probation, which could include house arrest at his home in Abu Dhabi.
In a new letter to U.S. Judge Richard A. Jones, who presided over the case, CZ apologized for his “poor decisions” and accepted full responsibility for his actions, Coindesk reported.
“There is no excuse for my failure to establish the necessary compliance controls at Binance. I am paying for my actions and face the criminal justice system today.”
“Lots of Support for CZ!”
Apart from CZ's letter, the judge also received letters of support for CZ.
Among those who sent letters of support to the judge were Zhao's sister Jessica Zhao, a former Managing Director of Morgan Stanley, Binance co-founder He Yi, the mother of Zhao's two children Yang Weiqing, Binance's Head of Financial Crimes Compliance, and a former U.S. Treasury Department official. It featured Tigran Gambaryan, a special agent currently languishing in a Nigerian prison due to a dispute between Binance and Nigeria.
CZ's sister, Jessica Zhao, said in her letter that although her brother made mistakes, he lived to do good things for others. Citing the FTX bankruptcy as an example, Jessica Zhao said that CZ ensured that Binance did not misuse any customer funds.
Another co-founder of Binance, He Yi, wrote in his letter: “If the cryptocurrency industry is compared to the Wild West, then CZ is the guardian of this wilderness. While even the USA has not decided how to regulate and define this industry, CZ has never had a record of this magnitude before.” “As a founder who had never run a company, he was bound to encounter blind spots.”
*This is not investment advice.