Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, must remain in the United States as he waits to be sentenced for violating federal money-laundering rules, a judge ruled on Thursday, the New York Times reported. Zhao, who goes by his initials, CZ, pleaded guilty to the charge last month as part of a wide-ranging settlement of several interlocking investigations into Binance by the federal government. A titanic figure in the crypto industry, Zhao also had to step down as the exchange’s chief executive. He faces as much as 18 months in prison. A magistrate judge initially ruled that Mr. Zhao could return to Dubai, where he lives with his partner and three children, while he awaited sentencing on Feb. 23. But in court filings, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Zhao was a “serious risk of flight,” citing his substantial wealth outside the country and his close ties with the government of the United Arab Emirates, which does not have an extradition agreement with the United States. Judge Richard A. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington sided with the government on Thursday, saying that Mr. Zhao was a flight risk. Binance and Mr. Zhao had been targets of U.S. law enforcement officials for years. The largest crypto exchange in the world, Binance has long operated in a regulatory gray area, even as it processed as many as two-thirds of all digital asset trades.
