Binance (group of companies and platform)
What the Binance group does
Binance operates Binance.com, a crypto exchange where people buy, sell and swap crypto. How the exchange itself works, what its operations cost and in which countries it is available is covered in the Binance review.
Binance is a brand with several companies behind it. It is like a chain of shops under one sign, where in each country the shop may belong to a different firm, with its own contract with customers and its own licence. That is why a legal event in Binance's history always concerns a specific company or a specific person.
What Binance's history means for a user
Your contract is with the company of the group that operates in your country. That company determines the rules under which your crypto is held and which regulator to turn to in a dispute ⚖️. Confirm its licence in the register of your country's regulator, because ads and reviews are no proof of it.
The 2023 criminal case was about how Binance checked its customers and payments. The exchange kept operating, and as agreed with the US authorities, an independent monitor oversees its compliance with the rules ⚖️4. Hacks, withdrawal suspensions and the exchange's reserve reports, the things that directly affect your money, are covered in the Binance review.
Who founded Binance and who runs it
The Binance.com exchange was launched by Changpeng Zhao, often called CZ, in July 2017. The company also names Yi He and Heina Chen as co-founders1.
Zhao led Binance as CEO, that is, chief executive, until 21 November 2023. On that day he pleaded guilty in the US and stepped down ⚖️4. In November 2023 the new CEO became Richard Teng, who had previously headed Binance's regions outside the US5. Since December 2025 Binance has had two leaders with the same title of co-CEO: on 3 December the company announced that co-founder Yi He would run Binance together with Richard Teng2.
How the Binance group is organized and who regulates it
The global Binance.com platform is regulated by the FSRA, the financial regulator of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) international financial centre in Abu Dhabi ⚖️. The company announced its FSRA authorization on 8 December 2025 and said it would start operating under it on 5 January 20266. As of 30.10.2026, Binance's licences page lists three companies with FSRA authorizations, each covering its own part of the exchange's operations ⚖️3.
Binance's exit from Russia in 2023
On 27 September 2023 Binance announced that it was selling its entire Russian business to the CommEX exchange and leaving Russia completely ⚖️. According to Binance, it kept no share of the revenue from the sale and no right to buy the business back. Users from Russia were given up to a year to move their assets. The reason was given by Noah Perlman, head of Binance's compliance function (the service that makes sure the company follows the rules): operating in Russia was incompatible with the company's compliance strategy7.
Binance's legal history in the US
The events are described as they stood on 30.10.2026 ⚖️.
Guilty plea by Binance Holdings Limited in November 2023
On 21 November 2023 Binance Holdings Limited, the company that runs Binance.com, pleaded guilty in a US federal criminal case ⚖️. Binance had broken the rules on checking customers, had operated without the required registration as a money transmitting business and had processed payments that violated US sanctions4.
The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial companies in the US to do what a currency exchange office does with a large amount of cash. A staff member asks for documents, finds out where the money came from and reports a suspicious transaction to the authorities. Rules like these are called anti-money-laundering (AML) rules.
On the same day, Changpeng Zhao separately pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program at Binance ⚖️. In total, Binance paid more than 4 billion dollars in the case to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and three other agencies ⚖️4.
Changpeng Zhao's sentence in April 2024
On 30 April 2024 a federal court in the state of Washington sentenced Changpeng Zhao to four months in prison and a fine of 50 million dollars ⚖️8.
The 2023 SEC lawsuit and its dismissal in 2025
In June 2023 the SEC filed a civil lawsuit against Binance, that is, a case about breaking regulations with no criminal charge ⚖️. The SEC alleged, among other things, that Binance.com and Binance.US operated as exchanges and brokers without registration, and that the company's own coin BNB and the stablecoin (digital dollar) BUSD were sold as securities without registration9.
In May 2025 the SEC closed the case and can no longer bring the same claim again ⚖️10. The SEC lawsuit ran separately from the DOJ criminal case, in a different court, so its dismissal does not affect the 2023 guilty plea ⚖️.
Changpeng Zhao's pardon in October 2025
On 21 October 2025 US President Donald Trump signed a full and unconditional pardon of Changpeng Zhao ⚖️11. The company Binance Holdings Limited is not named in the pardon ⚖️.
More detail on the amounts, agencies and documents in the Binance cases
The 2023 charges, in their English names, were: violating the Bank Secrecy Act, operating as an unlicensed money transmitting business and violating the law on which US sanctions are based (the International Emergency Economic Powers Act). The DOJ and Binance agreed on a forfeiture of 2,510,650,588 dollars and a criminal fine of 1,805,475,575 dollars, 4,316,126,163 dollars in all4.
At the same time, Binance settled cases with three more US agencies ⚖️. FinCEN is the unit of the Treasury Department that oversees anti-money-laundering rules. OFAC, another unit of the same department, is in charge of sanctions, and the CFTC regulates the market for futures and other derivatives, meaning contracts whose price depends on the price of another asset.
| US agency | What was put in place | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| DOJ | plea agreement | $4,316,126,163 |
| FinCEN | civil penalty | $3.4 billion |
| OFAC | sanctions settlement | $968,618,825 |
| CFTC | court order | $2.7 billion |
The amounts are taken from the agencies' own documents1213. The order in the CFTC case was issued by the court for the Northern District of Illinois on 18 December 2023: the court required Binance to give back 1.35 billion dollars in fees it had received and to pay a civil penalty of 1.35 billion dollars, and Zhao to pay 150 million dollars personally14. The amounts in the table can't be added up, because the DOJ credits about 1.8 billion dollars toward the agreements with the other three agencies4.
The SEC lawsuit was filed on 5 June 2023 in the federal court for the District of Columbia and contained 13 charges. The defendants were Binance Holdings Limited, Changpeng Zhao and two US companies that ran Binance.US, BAM Trading Services Inc. and BAM Management US Holdings Inc.9. On 29 May 2025 the parties filed a joint stipulation to end the case with a waiver of the right to bring it again (dismiss with prejudice). The SEC explained the decision by its discretion and agency policy and noted that it does not necessarily reflect its position in other cases10.
The pardon names the case United States v. Zhao, number 23CR00179RAJ-00111. In the DOJ register of pardons, the entry for Zhao carries the same date, 21 October 20258.
The FSRA authorizations of the three Nest companies are split by type of work. Nest Exchange Limited (formerly Nest Services Limited) runs trading on the exchange, Nest Clearing and Custody Limited handles settlement and holds customers' crypto, and Nest Trading Limited (formerly BCI Limited) is responsible for off-exchange deals and conversion6.
Frequently asked questions about Binance the company
Who owns Binance?
Binance itself has announced one outside co-owner. On 12 March 2025 the company said that the Abu Dhabi fund MGX had invested 2 billion dollars in crypto in Binance and received a stake that gives no control over the company. Binance called this the first investment in the company by a large institutional investor15.
What does it mean that the company pleaded guilty?
It means that the company accepted the charge under an agreement with prosecutors, and the case was resolved without a jury trial ⚖️. The terms it agreed to are set out in the plea agreement. Its text is published on the Justice Department's case page16.
Are the US authorities monitoring Binance?
The 2023 terms provide for monitoring ⚖️. Under the agreement with the DOJ, Binance undertook to retain an independent compliance monitor for three years and to strengthen its anti-money-laundering and sanctions programs4. Under the agreement with FinCEN, a monitor of the same kind oversees Binance for five years under FinCEN's own supervision12. As of 30.10.2026, the Department of Justice's case page for Binance reports no changes to these terms ⚖️, and it was last updated on 11 December 202316.
