In the criminal case in Seattle Federal Court, prosecutors asked for a 3-year prison sentence for Zhao as a deterrent, while defense lawyers requested 5 months of supervised release.
Zhao's lawyers argued that the former CEO admitted his mistake, came to the US voluntarily, had not previously violated the law and cooperated.
Zhao, once considered the most powerful person in the crypto sector and known as "CZ", received a 4-month prison sentence for "failing to provide adequate protection against money laundering".
Binance was fined 4.3 billion dollars
In November last year, the US government fined Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, $4.3 billion for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The fine amount in question was one of the largest fines imposed in the country.
Zhao had made a deal with the US government to resolve the investigation into Binance.
Zhao, who was born in China and immigrated to Canada at the age of 12, agreed to resign and pay a $50 million fine as part of the deal.
In a post on his X account, Zhao said he had made mistakes and needed to take responsibility.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was also sentenced to 25 years in prison in April in a criminal trial for alleged fraud and money laundering.
