Binance’s Busy Day, Kraken’s Second SEC Fight

Binance is paying one of the largest fines in corporate history to the U.S. Department of Justice, while its founder and CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, stepped down from his role running the platform as part of a settlement with multiple federal agencies. Meanwhile, Kraken is facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that echoes the SEC’s previous wave of suits.

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Binance settled charges with multiple U.S. agencies (with one major exception), ending one of the most highly anticipated regulatory actions in crypto.

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, and just agreed to pay what federal officials are describing as some of the nation’s largest fines.

Binance and Changpeng “CZ” Zhao settled with multiple federal agencies on Tuesday, agreeing to pay billions of dollars in a deal that will also see Zhao face potential prison time, Binance make a “complete exit” from the U.S. and agree to strict oversight from monitors over the next several years.

If you missed Tuesday’s regulatory extravaganza:

If you noticed the numbers don’t add up, you’re right. It’s a confusing mess, largely because the amounts overlap with each other and involve some financial punishments that are put off unless the company strays again. An actual total of $4.3 billion will move from Binance to U.S. government coffers, officials said. FinCEN is collecting $780 million. Another $150 million is a suspended penalty, while $2.47 billion will be credited to the DOJ and CFTC. OFAC will collect another $70 million and credit another $898 million to the DOJ. CoinDesk’s Jesse Hamilton checked and the CFTC is for sure getting the $1.35 million fine.

“One of the things that Treasury works hard in collaboration with the Justice Department on is that a substantial amount of this penalty will go to the victims of state-sponsored terrorism in a fund that supports payments to those families and individuals,” a senior Treasury official said.

Binance’s role as a major crypto exchange that operated secretively within the U.S. is maybe the…