Zhao resigns as Binance U.S. chair in further fallout from massive Justice case

financialpost.com:

Billionaire Changpeng Zhao stepped down as chairman of crypto exchange Binance.US a week after pleading guilty to United States Department of Justice charges and relinquishing his chief executive role at Binance’s global business.

Zhao retains an economic interest in Binance.US but has transferred his voting rights via a proxy arrangement and will no longer be involved in governance, the platform said Tuesday in a post on social media service X.

Binance Holdings Ltd. and Zhao last week pleaded guilty to U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions violations and will pay fines of US$4.3 billion and US$50 million respectively. Zhao faces up to 10 years in prison but may get no more than 18 months under a plea deal that allows the exchange to continue operating.

Zhao quit as chief executive of Binance Holdings under the deal, which resolved a criminal probe into the world’s largest crypto exchange. Binance.US is a separate corporate entity intended to serve American clients. Both companies, together with Zhao, face an ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit.

The agency in June accused Binance and Zhao of mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, and breaking securities rules. The SEC alleged Zhao and Binance secretly controlled the Binance.US platform’s operations. Binance has rejected the claims and vowed to defend itself.

Zhao is the founder of the Binance platform, which burst onto the crypto scene in 2017 but has seen its dominance of digital-asset spot and derivatives trading wane this year under the weight of a web of regulatory investigations.

Since the SEC lawsuit, Binance.US lost banking support, suspended dollar deposits and cut its workforce. The exchange’s market share