Binance founder CZ: Voluntarily pleaded guilty in the U.S., saying there was no fraud and no victims
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said in an exclusive interview with Japanese business media outlet PIVOT that he voluntarily flew from the United Arab Emirates to the United States in 2023 to plead guilty and pay the related fine. CZ said he could have stayed in a non-extradition country, but that he did not want to live as a fugitive, did not want to avoid the issue, and instead wanted to face it and resolve it directly.
CZ pointed out that the case involved a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act and was a registration-related violation: Binance served U.S. users without being registered as a U.S. financial services company, and its anti-money-laundering checks were not sufficiently thorough. He stressed that there was no fraud and no victims, and that users had always been well protected. CZ said that serving his sentence was an unpleasant experience and lesson that he did not want to repeat, and that he had already put it behind him as a chapter of his life.
CZ also mentioned that recently Bank of America was fined $1.2 billion for more serious violations, yet no one was prosecuted or mentioned. He said the world was unfair, and that he was no longer dwelling on the matter, choosing instead to focus on moving forward, learning from the experience and doing more positive things.
Original source:
Title: 【Japanese exclusive interview: Binance founder CZ】What is the revolution of “AI × blockchain”? / What will the billionaire who served time bet on next? / Changes coming within 5 years / What Japanese companies should prepare for now [PIVOT GLOBAL] Publisher: PIVOT official channel Publication date: 2026-10-24 URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hmlgUN-42E Source type: original interview (video transcript) Verification status: This time, relevant transcript passages on the YouTube page were actually read (including statements about voluntarily going to the U.S., not wanting to be a fugitive, no fraud and no victims, the Bank of America fine comparison, and the world being unfair); verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: Supports CZ’s specific statements in the main text about voluntarily pleading guilty, registration-related violations, no fraud and no victims, serving time as a lesson, the Bank of America comparison, and looking ahead
ABAB AI Insight
Changpeng Zhao admitted violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act in 2023, served about four months in prison in 2024, and was later pardoned. In the interview, he emphasized that he had voluntarily gone to the United States from a non-extradition country in order to avoid living as a fugitive. Binance reached an agreement with U.S. authorities at the same time, paid about $4.3 billion in related fines, and stepped down from the CEO position, while the platform continued operating under other co-founders and the management team.
CZ characterized his case as a registration violation (serving U.S. users without registration and insufficient anti-money-laundering checks) and stressed that there was no fraud, no direct victims, and that users’ funds were protected. This statement is consistent with his earlier public comments. In the interview, he contrasted this with Bank of America’s recent fine of about $1.2 billion (involving the failure to timely report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions, including national-security-related risks), yet no criminal prosecution of anyone, saying that the world is unfair and that he has chosen not to dwell on it but to look forward.
Unlike traditional banks, crypto exchanges in their early cross-border operations often faced criminal prosecution because of registration and compliance thresholds, whereas similar anti-money-laundering deficiencies at large banks were mostly handled through civil fines. CZ juxtaposed the two here to highlight the difference between personal responsibility and institutional fines. He has shifted toward educational projects (Giggle Academy) and investment, saying he is taking lessons from the experience to do more positive things. One observation metric is whether his future public statements continue to focus on new projects rather than repeatedly revisiting the case.
ABAB News · Law of cognition
Voluntarily pleading guilty can avoid fugitive status, but registration violations can still lead to personal imprisonment.
For the same type of compliance deficiency, the strength of criminal prosecution differs between individuals at crypto platforms and institutions at traditional banks.
After defining the past as a lesson, the person involved can turn to new projects rather than continue dwelling on fairness.