A federal judge ruled on Monday that former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao must remain in the country for the time being.
This came after the creator of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world entered a guilty plea for breaking American anti-money laundering regulations.
Zhao is obligated to remain in the United States until the Seattle court decides whether to allow him to return to the United Arab Emirates, where he is a citizen, or to stay through his sentencing hearing in February.
The CEO of Binance, Zhao, a Canadian national, resigned last week after entering a guilty plea for intentionally allowing the exchange to neglect having a robust anti-money laundering program.
After the U.S. government appealed a ruling by another judge permitting Zhao to return to the United Arab Emirates prior to his sentencing hearing on February 23, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle announced that he would review whether Zhao should have to remain in the country. Zhao consented to a $175 million bond as a condition of posting bail.
In exchange for admitting guilt to violating US anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations, Binance Holdings agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion.
Last week, Binance announced that it had put a lot of effort into making the business "safer and even more secure." An inquiry for comment on Monday was not immediately answered by Zhao's attorneys.
According to federal guidelines, Zhao faces a maximum jail sentence of eighteen months, and he has consented not to appeal any sentence up to that duration. According to a Justice Department spokesman last week, prosecutors will decide how much jail time to seek closer to Zhao's sentencing.
