NEW YORK, November 21. /TASS/. CEO of a crypto exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao plans to resign and plead guilty to money laundering charges. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.

According to them, Zhao is due to appear in court on Tuesday and admit his guilt. The crypto exchange will also have to pay fines amounting to $4.3 billion. Zhao agreed to this, as sources say, as part of a deal that will allow the company to continue operating.

Previously, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao. The regulator accuses the management of the crypto exchange of dealing in securities without proper registration and misleading investors regarding supervisory mechanisms. Additionally, the statement highlights that Binance and Changpeng Zhao publicly stated that US clients were prohibited from transacting on the exchange, while in reality they allegedly bypassed their own controls and secretly allowed US clients to participate in trading.

Binance is the world’s leading digital asset trading platform. It was founded in 2017 by a native of China, Changpeng Zhao. In 2021, Chinese authorities blocked the Binance website and mobile application, which was another step by the government to combat the provision of cryptocurrency transaction services in the country.