Recent crypto news concern the US Department of Justice (DoJ) calling for a reversal of the judge’s decision that former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao “CZ” may go to his home in Dubai pending final sentencing.
For US government prosecutors, if CZ leaves the country, he would be a potential “flight risk.”
Summary
News around former CEO of Binance: DoJ requests that CZ remain in the US
US Department of Justice (DoJ) prosecutors yesterday filed in a Seattle federal court a request to keep Changpeng Zhao, “CZ,” in the country.
Basically, the judge’s decision allowed the former Binance CEO to be allowed to return to his home in Dubai, UAE, on $175 million bail, provided he returned to the U.S. two weeks before the February 2024 sentencing.
Apparently, however, prosecutors disagree and are petitioning to reverse or review that decision, as they believe in a potential “flight risk” of CZ.
In the proposed order, in fact, prosecutors write the following:
“[CZ] presents an unacceptable risk of flight and nonappearance if he is allowed to leave the United States pending sentencing.”
And in fact, in the United Arab Emirates, CZ would have his partner and three young children, and could decide to stay there with his family instead of facing up to 18 months in prison.
Not only that, prosecutors also pointed out that given the former Binance CEO’s wealth held outside the US, he could safely live indefinitely in the UAE.
Former Binance CEO: for Kraken, CZ’s exit is news of a more level playing field
As the DoJ continues its mission against Binance and CZ, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell talks about a “fairer game” in the crypto sector.
In a lengthy tweet of his own, Powell describes the crypto and regulatory scenario of the past twelve months, a period in which happened the collapse of FTX and the lawsuit against Sam-Bankman Fried and now, CZ’s resignation of Binance.
These are two crypto players who have become guilty of not complying with U.S. laws, and therefore, Powell believes that this is just an “excuse” for governments to attack the crypto sector once again.
In this regard, Kraken’s co-founder says as follows:
“New threats to the industry’s reputation continue to emerge. Every shady operation represents an opportunity for governments to scapegoat cryptocurrency and tighten the noose.
It is clear that we cannot count on timely protection. We have to self-punish. People have asked us how they can support the various struggles against government prevarication.”
Inevitably, in speaking of “self-punishment,” Powell is referring precisely to CZ. In general, however, Powell sees a need for crypto platforms to adapt their products to become good examples for the industry, so as to contribute to its longevity and good reputation.
Scrolling through the comments, Powell further explains that the SEC brings forward cases in order of convenience, since Kraken, Coinbase and Ripple are based in the US. It would be difficult for the government agency to look for the most egregious offenders abroad.
Crypto withdrawals from Binance: how are they proceeding?
Immediately after the news of CZ’s resignation as CEO of Binance, the web’s most popular and largest crypto-exchange, it appears to have recorded total outflows exceeding $1 billion.
We are talking about an outflow made up of crypto withdrawals in just 24 hours, which is exactly from the day of 21 to 22 November, yesterday.
How are the withdrawals proceeding now instead? How is the market reacting to the new appointment of Richard Teng as the new CEO of Binance?
Back on DefiLlama, in the last 24 hours, crypto withdrawals from Bianance seem to have decreased compared to yesterday. And in fact, the new inflow figure is -$487 million, which yes owns a zero less, but still remains a significant figure.
The Binance Coin (BNB) token also appears not to have collapsed entirely. In fact, at the time of writing, BNB is worth $236.
