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Founded by Changpeng Zhao in 2017, Binance grew into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. In November 2022, it said it planned to buy rival FTX, then backed out a day later as FTX collapsed.

GRAPHICS (ARCHIVE - NOVEMBER 8, 2022) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

1. STILL PHOTO ILLUSTRATION OF BINANCE LOGO NEXT TO KEYBOARD AND GOLD COINS

Shortly after, Zhao told a Binance event in Athens that governments were coming to accept crypto and that the industry was healthier after a turbulent year.

ATHENS, GREECE (ARCHIVE - NOVEMBER 25, 2022) (REUTERS - Access All)

2. VARIOUS OF ZHAO TAKING SELFIES WITH PEOPLE AT BINANCE EVENT EVENT

3. ZHAO ON STAGE ANSWERING QUESTIONS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BINANCE FOUNDER, CHANGPENG ZHAO, SAYING:

"Most governments now understand that adoption will happen regardless. It is better to regulate the industry than try to fight against it.”

5. ZHAO ON STAGE ANSWERING QUESTIONS

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BINANCE FOUNDER, CHANGPENG ZHAO, SAYING:

"2022 was a really nasty year. In the last six months, too much has happened. So, actually, I think now the industry is healthier."

One year later, Binance pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures. Zhao also pleaded guilty and stepped down as chief executive.

WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATE (ARCHIVE - NOVEMBER 21, 2023) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - No use USA)

7. U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY JANET YELLEN AND OTHER OFFICIALS APPROACHING LECTERN AT START OF PRESS CONFERENCE

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) THEN-US ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND SAYING:

“We are here today to announce that the Justice Department has secured felony guilty pleas from the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, and from its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, also known a CZ.”

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) THEN-U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND SAYING:

“Binance has agreed to plead guilty to wilfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act, knowingly failing to register as a money transmitting business and wilfully violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. These laws ensure that our financial institutions are not available to designated terrorist organizations, drug traffickers and sanctioned nation states that threaten public safety and our national security. The Justice Department is requiring Binance to pay $4.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures. This is one of the largest penalties we have ever obtained from a corporate defendant in a criminal matter."

In April 2024, a judge sentenced Zhao to four months in prison for failing to stop money laundering at Binance.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (ARCHIVE - APRIL 30, 2024) (REUTERS - Access All)

11. ZHAO EXITING FEDERAL COURT BUILDING AFTER BEING SENTENCED TO FOUR MONTHS IN PRISON ON MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES

12. ZHAO ENTERING VEHICLE, VEHICLE DRIVING AWAY

Binance's legal problems also reached Nigeria in 2024, where executive Tigran Gambaryan had been detained since February over money laundering allegations. He appeared in court in poor health in October 2024, and Nigeria dropped the charges against him later that month.

ABUJA, NIGERIA (ARCHIVE - OCTOBER 11, 2024) (REUTERS - Access all)

13. PEOPLE SITTING IN COURTROOM

14. LAWYERS SITTING

15. BINANCE EXECUTIVE, TIGRAN GAMBARYAN, BEING PUSHED IN WHEELCHAIR THROUGH COURTROOM

16. LAWYER WATCHING GAMBARYAN

17. GAMBARYAN BEING PUSHED IN WHEELCHAIR

18. LAWYER

19. GAMBARYAN SHAKING MAN'S HAND, BEING PUSHED OUT OF COURTROOM

Crypto prices surged after Donald Trump's election win, with bitcoin passing $100,000 for the first time in early December 2024. Binance continued to be the world's top crypto trading platform.

SINGAPORE (ARCHIVE - DECEMBER 5, 2024) (REUTERS - Access all)

20. PERSON LOOKING AT BINANCE WEBSITE SHOWING GRAPH OF BITCOIN PRICE

21. GRAPH SHOWING BITCOIN PRICE MOVEMENT

22. BINANCE WEBSITE WITH CURSOR HIGHLIGHTING BITCOIN PRICE

In March 2025, Abu Dhabi investor MGX put $2 billion into Binance, paid in stablecoin, in the exchange's first outside institutional investment.

INTERNET (ARCHIVE - MARCH 12, 2025) (MGX WEBSITE - Access all) (MUTE)

23. SCREEN RECORDING OF MGX RELEASE ANNOUNCING INVESTMENT IN BINANCE

In April 2025, the price of the "OFFICIAL TRUMP" token, which trades on Binance, jumped after its backers offered top holders a private dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump.

SINGAPORE (ARCHIVE - APRIL 24, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

24. COMPUTER SCREENS SHOWING DATA ON COINMARKETCAP AND BINANCE SHOWING PRICE OF ‘OFFICIAL TRUMP’ CRYPTO TOKEN

25. VARIOUS OF COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING DATA ON BINANCE SHOWING PRICE OF ‘OFFICIAL TRUMP’ CRYPTO TOKEN / POINT OF PRICE SURGE

In October 2025, Trump pardoned Zhao, who had served four months in prison. The White House said the prosecution had been overreach, while critics, including U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, questioned Zhao's ties to Trump family crypto ventures.

WASHINGTON, D.C, UNITED STATES (ARCHIVE - OCTOBER 23, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

26. THEN-WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, KAROLINE LEAVITT, WALKING UP TO LECTERN

27. (SOUNDBITE) (English) THEN-WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, KAROLINE LEAVITT, SAYING:

"This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration. Even the judge in the case admitted that the Biden administration was pursuing an egregious over-sentencing of this individual. And the previous administration was very hostile to the cryptocurrency industry. The President wants to correct this overreach of the Biden Administration's misjustice. And he exercised his constitutional authority to do so. And to the Democrats, I would just say there's nothing more corrupt than what President Biden did on his way out the door, pardoning his extremely corrupt son and many of his associates."

Binance had also become part of daily life in some economies short of U.S. dollars. In Bolivia, the economy minister said in November 2025 that many people used the exchange to check the price of the dollar.

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (ARCHIVE - NOVEMBER 24, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

28. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND PUBLIC FINANCES

29. VARIOUS OF THEN-BOLIVIA'S ECONOMY AND FINANCE MINISTER, JOSE GABRIEL ESPINOZA, SPEAKING DURING INTERVIEW IN HIS OFFICE

30. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) THEN-BOLIVIAN ECONOMY AND FINANCE MINISTER, JOSE GABRIEL ESPINOZA, SAYING:

"Binance has become a reference for many Bolivians in the face of the lack of public information regarding the cost of the dollar. We will correct this in the coming weeks. We will start by generating this kind of information so that people can have a formal and institutionalized alternative to Binance, either through banks or the Central Bank. In parallel, we recognize the use of cryptocurrencies because in the end, this is in line with any orderly monetary policy. This is not something you as a government can control, it goes beyond any government's capacity. So you must recognize it and use it in your favour. If you use it within the financial system, there's the possibility of generating new products that people want today."

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (ARCHIVE - AUGUST 5, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

31. VARIOUS OF INFORMAL CURRENCY EXCHANGER COUNTING UNITED STATES DOLLARS

32. PEOPLE WALKING PAST CURRENCY EXCHANGE BUSINESSES

By August 2026, a prolonged dollar shortage had pushed many Bolivians towards informal currency dealers and digital dollars, with banks offering cards linked to stablecoins -- often obtained through Binance -- that could be used at ATMs and shops.

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (ARCHIVE - AUGUST 11, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

33. VARIOUS OF CRYPTO CARDHOLDER, JASSIEL LOZA, AT ATM WITHDRAWING BOLIVIAN NATIONAL CURRENCY WITH CARD THAT HOLDS USDC STABLECOIN

34. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CRYPTO CARDHOLDER, JASSIEL LOZA, SAYING:

"You can access Koin and buy USDC or USDT simply through a QR code from any bank. Also, you have the option to transfer your crypto assets, especially USDT which is widely used on Binance, directly from the app. Above all, the advantage it has is that it comes with a card that allows you to withdraw your money saved in cryptocurrencies at a bank ATM, and you can also pay at shops directly with the card."

35. VARIOUS OF LOZA TRANSFERRING USDC TO HIS BANK WALLET USING MOBILE PHONE

On October 29, 2026, Binance said a security incident had an estimated impact of about $6.3 billion, the largest crypto hack in history. The exchange said about $3 billion had been frozen and promised to cover all losses, while analytics firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis pointed to hackers linked to North Korea.

ANIMATION (OCTOBER 30, 2026) (REUTERS - Access All) (MUTE)

36. ANIMATED CHART SHOWING BITCOIN (BTC) INTRADAY PRICE FROM 2100 GMT ON OCT 29 TO 0230 GMT ON OCT 30, ACCORDING TO LSEG DATA