CZ Binance Jailed; Crypto Bleeds

Ever wondered what it's like to be at the helm of one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, only to find yourself in the crosshairs of U.S. authorities? Binance founder CZ has been sentenced to four months in prison on anti-money laundering charges despite the judge not finding any evidence suggesting CZ had been informed of illegal activities at Binance.
This is, however, much less than the prosecution wanted. The sentencing guidelines were 12 to 18 months. The prosecution wanted 36 months in total, while CZ's lawyers were looking for probation. So, four months is radically less than what they had hoped for. And the judge, handing down the sentence, was largely unsympathetic to the argument the government made; that this was a calculated decision by Changpeng Zhao to evade money laundering rules, by not having a money laundering program in place at Binance.
Back in November 2023, Changpeng pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering on the Binance platform, all part of a plea-deal that required the platform to pay $4.3 billion in fines and for him to pay $50 million while stepping down as CEO.
CZ Binance outside the courts

The chronology

From 2018 to 2024, Binance was under scrutiny by various U.S. agencies, including the DOJ, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

• February 2018, the Department of Justice began investigating Binance's compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering laws and sanctions.
• March 2021, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission probed whether Binance offered crypto derivatives to U.S. customers without registering with the agency.
• February 2022, the SEC launched an investigation into the connection between Binance.US and trading firms SigmaChinaGen and Merit Peak.
• June 2022, the SEC reportedly initiated another investigation into Binance Holdings' 2017 initial coin offering over potential unregistered security sales.
• March 2023, the CFTC sued Binance CZ ang the exchange for seven counts of trading irregularities and market manipulation.
• May 2023, the DOJ launched another investigation focusing on potential violations of US sanctions.
• June 2023, the SEC filed charges against Binance and CZ for violations of securities law by allowing Russians to access the cryptocurrency exchange.
• July 2023, senior executives at Binance US started leaving the company with investigations piling up. As investigations continued, the DOJ considered fraud charges against Binance, causing concern about a potential bank run affecting consumers.
• September 2023, Binance.us laid off a third of its workforce and CEO Schroeder departed. The SEC complained about Binance's lack of cooperation in its discovery process.
• In November of 2023, CZ stepped down as CEO, pleading guilty to one felony charge as part of a settlement over criminal in civil cases

Market weeps blood

BTC chart following news of CZ sentencing.
Revered as a hero by the crypto community, all went bearish ahead of his sentencing. The news of the sentencing worsened the matter. Bitcoin, for the first time in almost two months—56 days to be precise—went below the $60,000 mark to trade at a low of $59,195 (8.6%). It has however, recovered by the time of writing to trade at $60,300 (5%). ETH fell to a low of $2921 (10.2%), while Solana dropped to a low of $121.21 (13.7%).
Basically, the crypto market has faced a downturn after the news of CZ sentencing. Most of the major cryptocurrencies have dropped significantly. It is evident that CZ has an enormous influence on the crypto community.
Sometimes the crypto market can be as unpredictable as a roller coaster ride. Just ask CZ.