Tech

Binance Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges

(CTN News) – As part of a $4.3 billion deal with the Department of Justice, Binance head Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO and pled guilty to criminal charges on Tuesday, according to court filings. The government’s plea deal ends an investigation that has been ongoing into the biggest bitcoin exchange in the world for several years.

In a Seattle courthouse, Zhao made his plea before Judge Brian Tsuchida. The Justice Department informed the public that Zhao and others were indicted on charges of willfully violating U.S. economic sanctions “in a deliberate and calculated effort to profit from the U.S. market without implementing controls required by U.S. law” and of failing to establish an effective anti-money-laundering program, both of which constitute violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.

In a Tuesday post on X (previously Twitter), Zhao admitted that he “must take responsibility” for his actions and acknowledged that he had “made mistakes.” He announced that Binance’s new chief executive officer is Richard Teng, who had previously served as the company’s global head of regional markets.

The US Departments of Justice, CFTC, and Treasury worked together to bring charges against Binance and its founder. It was noticeable that the SEC was not there.

More than 1.5 million virtual currency trades breached U.S. sanctions, and the exchange enabled over 100,000 transactions that supported activities including terrorism and illegal narcotics, according to an announcement Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Additionally, it permitted dealings linked to terrorist organizations such the Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Qaida, and ISIS. Binance “never filed a single suspicious activity report,” Yellen noted in the press statement.

During a press conference on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland described the fine as “one of the largest penalties we have ever obtained.”

“You are not a disruptor if you use new technology to breach the law. Then you’re a criminal, Garland remarked.

“The safety of the American people was prioritized by Binance over its profits,” he said.

The crypto exchange “even developed a process to notify VIP users if they became the subject of a law enforcement inquiry,” as stated in a 92-page consent decree between Binance and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCen.

By the terms of the plea agreement, Zhao personally admitted to breaking the Bank Secrecy Act and conspiring with a financial institution to also break the law. The Department of Justice has also asked the court to punish Zhao $50 million.

A sentencing hearing for Zhao is set for February 23, and he has been freed on a personal recognizance bond of $175 million, with $15 million in cash serving as collateral.

Binance will keep running but with new guidelines. For its operations to remain compliant with anti-money-laundering regulations in the United States, the corporation must keep and improve its compliance program. Appointing an impartial compliance monitor is mandatory for the organization.

On Tuesday, the charges against Binance were revealed in the unsealed case. The exchange was accused of three separate crimes: operating an unauthorized money-transmitting business, breaching the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and conspiracy.

Binance has settled a $1.8 billion fine and a forfeiture of $2.5 billion with the authorities.

In its brief on Tuesday, the Justice Department stated that Binance “knowingly and willfully” induced the delivery of services to Iran, which is in violation of U.S. sanctions. The news comes after reports surfaced that Binance handled transactions involving billions of dollars from Iran.

Yellen made it clear in a press brief that the Federal Reserve is also communicating with the virtual currency industry on a larger scale, both now and in the future.

The settlement follows FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s November 2nd conviction on multiple felony charges of fraud and conspiracy, which was reached after only three hours of jury deliberation.

The experts told CNBC they had never seen such a swift verdict for a high-profile month-long trial involving nearly 20 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits.

CNBC did not immediately receive a response from Zhao when they contacted out for comment. Binance has chosen not to address multiple comment requests made by CNBC.

In response to legal actions initiated earlier this year by the SEC and the CFTC, the defendant is now facing charges.

Authorities in various jurisdictions have raised concerns about Binance’s strategy of entering certain markets without the necessary authorization, and the company has been accused of participating in illegal dealings like money laundering and securities fraud. As a result, Binance has been subject to intense regulatory scrutiny.

In June, the SEC filed a massive complaint against Binance, claiming the business operated an illicit securities exchange and improperly handled client monies.

Claiming to be an unlicensed securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency, the SEC then sued Coinbase, a competing exchange, similarly.

And on Monday, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Kraken, claiming that the exchange put its customers at danger of losing $33 billion worth of cryptocurrency because it mixed consumer funds with corporate funds.

Similar to the accusations leveled against the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the thirteen complaints levied against Binance by the SEC claimed that the company had mixed customer funds totaling billions of dollars with its own.

According to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Zhao and Binance businesses engaged in a complex web of dishonesty, conflicts of interest, concealment, and intentional lawlessness.

Binance, founded in 2017 by an entrepreneur of Chinese descent, swiftly rose from relative obscurity to become a dominant player in the cryptocurrency market. Every year, Binance processes billions of dollars in trading volumes, solidifying its position as the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.

Despite having a holding company in the Cayman Islands, Binance does not have a global headquarters. Zhao has repeatedly opposed the idea of creating one, stating that he preferred the platform to operate on a “decentralized” model.

Due to a lack of authorization to engage in regulated operations, the Financial Conduct Authority forbade Binance’s U.K. business from functioning in the UK in 2021.

After the regulator found that Binance’s know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering systems did not fulfill its requirements, the cryptocurrency exchange dropped plans to acquire a full U.K. license.

The Commodity Exchange Act, as well as laws “designed to prevent and detect money laundering and terrorism financing,” were cited in the CFTC’s complaint as being violated by Binance, Zhao, and the company’s former chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim. The prosecution also claimed that the exchange was “illegal” and that the compliance program was a “sham.”

A motion to dismiss the CFTC’s claim was submitted in July by Binance and Zhao. In response to what it terms the SEC’s “fishing expedition,” the American exchange branch has filed a protective order, further limiting the SEC’s ability to sue.

The consequences of the agency’s crypto crackdown on numerous tokens and blockchains, beyond just the exchanges, are of special worry to the crypto sector. The SEC accuses Binance and Coinbase of failing to register certain tokens as securities. These tokens include sol from Solana, ada from Cardano, and matic from Polygon.

Tech

US: A Judge Mandates that Google Allow Competing App Stores to Access Android

(VOR News) – The ruling is that Google, the greatest technology firm in the world, is required to make its Android smartphone operating system available to merchants that supply applications that are in direct rivalry with Google’s. This decision was reached by a judge in the United States of America.

The Android Play store, which is owned and operated by Google, was found to be an example of an illegal monopoly arrangement by a jury in the state of California on Monday. The finding was reached by a jury. Monday is the day that this decision was come to.

An earlier federal judge ruled Google’s search engine illegal.

This finding, which came after that decision, has forced the company to suffer yet another setback. As a result of the corporation having already encountered its initial obstacle, this decision has been established. This particular decision was made by the judge during the month of August, when the month was in progress.

In light of the fact that the decision was made, what exactly does it mean that the choice was accepted?

In accordance with the verdict, Google is obligated to make it possible for users to download Android app stores that are offered by third-party competitors. For a period of three years, the corporation is prohibited from imposing restrictions on the usage of payment mechanisms that are integrated into the application.

In addition, it is important to keep in mind that Google does not possess the right to impose restrictions on the utilization of ways to make payments online.

Additionally, the verdict makes it unlawful for Google to give money to manufacturers of smartphones in order to preinstall its app store. Smartphone manufacturers are prohibited from doing so.

Furthermore, it prevents Google from the possibility of sharing the revenue that is generated by the Play store with other companies that are in the industry of delivering mobile applications.

In addition to this, the court has mandated the establishment of a technical committee that will be made up of three different people chosen at random.

The committee will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the reforms and finding solutions to any disagreements that may occur as a consequence of the implementation of the reforms while they are being implemented. This task will fall under the committee’s purview so that it may fulfill its duties.

However, certain components were allowed to be put into action until July 1st, despite the fact that the judge’s statement suggested that the ruling would take effect on November 1st. The statement was the basis for the ruling, which ultimately became effective.

Particularly, I wanted to know what Google’s reaction would be.

There is a fact that Google does not adhere to this directive, which has been brought to their attention. This document argued that the alterations that the judge had ordered to be made would “cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers, and device makers.”

The judge had ordered the modifications to be implemented. The alterations were to be carried out as indicated by the judge’s ruling. The judge made it clear that he expected these revisions to be carried out in accordance with his guidance.

The company’s regulatory affairs vice president, Lee-Anne Mulholland, provided the following statement: “We look forward to continuing to make our case on appeal, and we will continue to advocate for what is best for developers, device manufacturers, and the billions of Android users around the world.”

On average, over seventy percent of the total market for smartphones and other mobile devices is comprised of mobile devices that are powered by the Android operating system. Both smartphones and other small mobile devices are included in this category.

In the event that the Play app store continues to be shown on the home page and that other Google applications are pre-installed prior to the installation of the Android application, smartphone manufacturers are entitled to install the Android application at no cost at their discretion.

Additionally, the Android application can be installed on devices that are manufactured for smartphones.

SOURCE: DWN

Tech

WhatsApp Now Features a “Mention” Tool for Status Updates and Stories.

(VOR News) – Those who use WhatsApp now have the ability to mention other people in their stories or status updates as a consequence of a feature that was only recently enabled on the platform.

Previous to this point, this capability was not available. It wasn’t until quite recently that this capability became available to the public.

According to the information that was provided by the company, users now have the opportunity to tag close friends in their stories, and the person who is mentioned will have the option to go back and re-share an earlier version of that story. This information was provided by the company. The corporation was kind enough to reveal this information to us.

Because of a new feature that has been added to the WhatsApp app, users now have the opportunity to like individual stories and status updates.

This capability was previously unavailable to WhatsApp users.

A significant amount of progress has been made in this context. Alternative readers now have the chance to “like” a work, which is comparable to liking a post on Facebook. This feature was introduced in recent years. When compared to the past, this is a tremendous shift.

At one point in time, viewers were only permitted to observe the total number of views that a particular story had gotten. These restrictions were eliminated in later versions of the software.

Additionally, it is essential that the likes and reactions to a story be kept anonymous during the entire process. One of the factors that contributes to the general mystery that surrounds this characteristic is the fact that this is one of the elements.

The person who brought it to the attention of others is the only person who will be able to judge who enjoyed it and who did not care about it. These individuals will be able to make this determination.

A notification will be issued to the individual who was referenced earlier in the sentence and who was named in the story or status update that was discussed. A notification of this nature will be sent to the individual via WhatsApp.

This message will be sent to the user in question whenever that person makes a reference to another person while they are in the process of elaborating on a narrative or updating their status. You will receive a notification alerting you that you have been tagged in the narrative.

This notification will be delivered to the person who receives this message. In addition, students will be provided with the opportunity to re-share the tale for themselves.

It is important to note that if the names of individuals who have been referenced in a narrative or a status update are included in any of these, then the names of those individuals will not be accessible to any third party through any of these. In light of the fact that the identities of those individuals will be concealed from public disclosure, this is the condition that will be required.

While WhatsApp recently made the announcement that it will be incorporating this functionality, it is highly likely that not all users will have access to it at the same time.

This is despite the fact that WhatsApp recently made this announcement.

Despite the fact that WhatsApp has only recently made a public announcement that it will move forward with the deployment, this is the situation that has presented itself.

As soon as a short period of time has elapsed, access will be made available to each and every person on the entire world.

Additionally, WhatsApp has hinted that new functionalities might be introduced to the status and updates tab in the future months.

The purpose of these capabilities is to provide users with assistance in maintaining healthy connections with the individuals who play a vital role in their living experiences. This is done in order to give users with support in maintaining close relationships with the folks who are the subject of the inquiry.

It is with the purpose of supporting users in successfully keeping close ties with the individuals in question that this step is taken.

SOURCE: DN

Tech

Over The Planned “Link Tax” Bill, Google Threatens to Remove NZ News Links.

(VOR News) – Google has sent a strong message to the New Zealand government, threatening to stop boosting local news content should the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill become law.

The law, put up by the Labour government and backed by the coalition in power at the moment, mandates that digital companies such as Google pay back news organizations for links to their material.

News publishers, on the other hand, charge the tech giant with “corporate bullying.”

Google says this measure may have unanticipated effects.

Google New Zealand’s country director, Caroline Rainsford, voiced her worries that the law, which is being referred to as a “link tax,” is not doing enough to support the media industry in New Zealand right now.

She underlined that Google would have to make major adjustments if the previously mentioned law were to pass, including cutting off links to news articles from its Search, News, and Discover platforms and cutting off financial ties with regional publications.

According to Rainsford, similar legislation has been proposed and approved in other nations including Australia and Canada, but it has not been proven to be effective there and breaches the principles of the open web.

She drew attention to the fact that smaller media outlets will be most negatively impacted, which will limit their capacity to reach prospective audiences.

Google says its alternative options will protect smaller, local media from negative effects.

Conversely, it conveys apprehension regarding the possible fiscal obligations and vagueness of the legislation, which it feels generates an intolerable level of ambiguity for enterprises functioning within New Zealand.

The New Zealand News Publishers Association (NPA) has reacted to Google’s warnings by alleging that the internet behemoth is using coercive tactics.

They specifically contend that the need for regulation stems from the market distortion that Google and other tech giants have created, which has fueled their expansion into some of the most significant corporations in global history.

The legislation aims to create a more equal framework that media businesses can use to negotiate commercial relationships with technological platforms that profit from their content.

New Zealand Media Editors CEO Michael Boggs stated that he was in favor of the bill, citing the fact that Google now makes a substantial profit from material created by regional publications.

He also emphasized that the use of artificial intelligence by Google—which frequently makes references to news articles without giving credit to the original sources—highlights the significance of enacting legislation.

Paul Goldsmith, the Minister of Media and Communications, has stated that the government is now evaluating various viewpoints and is still in the consultation phase.

He stated that the government and Google have been having continuous talks and will keep up these ongoing discussions.

However, not all political parties accept the validity of the Act.

The ACT Party’s leader, David Seymour, has voiced his displeasure of the proposal, saying that Google is a game the government is “playing chicken” with. He threatened the smaller media companies, saying that they would suffer from worse search engine rankings if the internet giant followed through on its promises.

Seymour contended that it is not the government’s responsibility to shield companies from shifts in the market brought about by consumer preferences.

The things that have happened in other nations are similar to what has happened in New Zealand.

Google has agreements with a number of Australian media firms that are in compliance with its News Media Bargaining Code. These agreements contain provisions that permit an annual cancellation of these agreements.

Due to the government’s decision to exempt Google from the Online News Act, the company has committed to supporting news dissemination by contributing annually to the Canadian journalistic community.

The New Zealand measure is consistent with global approaches aimed at regulating the relationships that exist between technology corporations and media organizations.

It’s hard to say what will happen with the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill as the discussion goes on. Google and the New Zealand media landscape are preparing for what might be a protracted legal battle.

SOURCE: TET