Last week, the legal drama involving Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, and United States law enforcement came to a close with a plea deal. Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, admitted to violating U.S. Anti-Money Laundering laws and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines. As part of the deal, CZ resigned as CEO and was replaced by Richard Teng, Binance’s former head of regional markets outside the U.S.Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson commented on the plea deal, describing it as “the end of an era.” Hoskinson emphasized the importance of entrepreneurs complying with regulations or developing permissionless protocols that cannot be regulated. He warned that the world is changing and entrepreneurs can no longer rely on centralized systems while disregarding regulations.In another legal battle, Kraken, another major crypto exchange, is facing allegations from the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC filed a complaint claiming that Kraken unlawfully facilitated the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies since 2018. The SEC also accused Kraken of commingling customer assets with its own, posing a significant risk of loss for its clients. Kraken founder Jesse Powell criticized the SEC’s actions, calling it an “assault on America” and urging other companies to leave the country.FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of fraud, will remain in custody after failing to convince a U.S. appellate court to grant him bail. The court cited Bankman-Fried’s previous attempts to tamper with witnesses as a major reason for rejecting his request.Representatives from BlackRock and Nasdaq met with the SEC to discuss the possibility of listing a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). BlackRock presented two proposed models for its iShares Bitcoin Trust, but it remains unclear how the SEC officials responded or if they will approve a spot BTC ETF.Tether and Bitfinex have agreed to drop their initial opposition to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request from U.S. media outlets. The request is related to an agreement between Tether, Bitfinex, and the New York Attorney General, which involved paying an $18.5 million fine to settle a legal dispute regarding the alleged commingling of client and corporate funds.Overall, the crypto industry continues to face legal challenges and regulatory scrutiny, with major players like Binance, Kraken, and Tether making headlines for their legal battles and compliance issues. The outcome of these cases will have significant implications for the future of the industry and its relationship with regulators.

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Information	Details
Geography	North America
Countries	🇺🇸
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	Charles Hoskinson, Zeke Faux, Sam Bankman-Fried, Jesse Powell, Richard Teng
Companies	Binance, Kraken, New York Attorney General, Tether, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Bitfinex, SEC, Nasdaq, United States law enforcement, U.S. Anti-Money Laundering laws, CZ, Jesse Powell, FTX, Grayscale, BlackRock, U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Cardano, Richard Teng
Currencies	Bitcoin, bitfinex, Tether
Securities	None