X restricts Changpeng Zhao’s account

On 23 November, the social network X restricted access to the account of the former Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao (CZ) without explanation. By the time of writing, the issue had been resolved.

The whole “temporary restriction” thing was just me trying to send a Happy Thanksgiving tweet. ?

— CZ ? BNB (@cz_binance) November 23, 2023

“All this fuss about the ‘temporary restriction’ was really just me trying to post a Thanksgiving tweet,” Zhao joked.

“The X-bot detection algorithm needs work, Elon Musk. It fails to detect bad bots and wrongly targets real people,” added the former head of the exchange.

On 21 November, as part of settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Binance agreed to pay fines totaling $4.3 billion amid ongoing investigations by the department and the SEC into the company and CZ.

The agreement contemplates charging Zhao with money laundering, financial fraud and sanctions violations. He agreed to step down from the role of chief executive, admitting guilt in the violations cited by authorities, and is personally to pay a $50 million fine.

Under the agreement with FinCEN the exchange will undertake a “full exit” from the United States and appoint a five-year observer to oversee its internal sanctions-compliance program.

CZ also posted a $175 million bond to remain at liberty. However prosecutors sought to bar him from leaving the United States, fearing flight. The verdict is scheduled for 23 February 2024.

Binance became the head of regional markets Richard Teng.

“Back in 2021, were blocked several X profiles of crypto analysts. In a support chat, analyst Willy Woo was told that, due to an algorithmic error, his account was marked as ‘spam’.”