When President Donald Trump pardoned the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in October, the industry let out a collective cheer. One of its idols, former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, had been vindicated.
Two years ago, Zhao and Binance pleaded guilty to operating without basic anti-money laundering safeguards, opening the crypto trading platform up to “terrorists, cybercriminals and child abusers,” according to the U.S. Justice Department.
But, despite agreeing to pay a $4 billion penalty, the company failed to change its ways.
A trailblazing analysis by ICIJ reveals that Binance has continued to profit from hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency transactions linked to notorious organized crime groups via the now-blacklisted Huione Group.
And it’s not alone. In February, another crypto giant, OKX, pleaded guilty to operating an illegal money transmitter. Despite increased scrutiny, ICIJ found, accounts at the exchange received more than $161 million from Huione — after the Treasury Department labeled the Cambodian financial firm a “primary money laundering concern.”