Crypto Regulation News Weekly Digest: CZ’s Guilty Plea and Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF Prospectus

cryptonews.com:

Last week brought several major developments on the crypto regulation front. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the U.S. and now faces up to 10 years in prison. Meanwhile, Grayscale submitted an updated prospectus for converting its Bitcoin Trust into a spot ETF, fueling hopes that approval may be close. Overseas, Singapore announced tighter regulations to protect crypto consumers, including banning crypto ads and incentives. Finally, ECB President Christine Lagarde revealed her son lost most of his crypto investments, reinforcing her skeptical stance.

In this column, we will analyze these key events from the past week and what they mean for the future of crypto oversight worldwide. The plea deal, persistent ETF application, bans on retail marketing, and high-profile crypto losses all signal intensifying global regulation. But many questions are present on how far restrictions will reach and what lies ahead for crypto businesses and investors.

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance, rocked the crypto world last week when he pled guilty to criminal charges related to money laundering and sanctions violations. The plea deal requires Binance to cease operations in the U.S., while Zhao himself may face up to a decade behind bars.

Zhao admitted that Binance failed to maintain proper anti-money laundering safeguards. This enabled illicit funds to flow undetected across the platform.

Prosecutors highlighted how Binance marketed heavily to U.S. customers despite concealing its corporate structure and lacking proper state licenses. The exchange also facilitated “billions of dollars” of crypto transactions for its US customers, without implementing so-called “know your customer” checks.