The U.S. government has reached a settlement with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange worth more than $4 billion, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The resolution with Binance was officially confirmed under the condition of anonymity prior to an anticipated public announcement. Bloomberg first reported the initial disclosure of the settlement amount.

It comes months after the company was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit from regulators.

Binance is a Cayman Islands limited liability company founded by CEO Changpeng Zhao. The charges were similar to practices uncovered after last year’s collapse of the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.

Zhao has also faced allegations of diverting customer funds, concealing that the company was commingling billions of dollars in investor assets and sending them to a third party that Zhao also owned.

In response to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s legal action against the company, Binance asserted its cooperation with the investigation. However, the company stated that the regulatory agency had opted for unilateral action and legal proceedings.

Scandals and market meltdowns have marred the cryptocurrency industry. Sam Bankman-Fried, the 31-year-old founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency brokerage, was recently convicted of fraud for embezzling a minimum of $10 billion from customers and investors.

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US reaches over-$4 billion settlement with world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, AP source says (2023, November 21).retrieved 21 November 2023 from https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-over-billion-settlement-world-largest.html