The price of Binance's BNB token plummeted on Tuesday following reports that the leading cryptocurrency exchange and its CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao (aka "CZ") plans to plead guilty and pay a hefty fine to resolve the charges from the United States Department of Justice.
BNB has fallen 8% in the last hour after posting earlier gains, and is currently priced around $240 at the time of writing. It is also down 8% on the day, according to data from CoinGeckoand has fallen the most sharply among the main cryptocurrencies during the last hour.
Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two major cryptocurrencies, are also starting to see gradual price drops, but not to the same level as BNB at the moment.
Bitcoin is down 0.9% in the last hour to a current price of just under $36,900. It fell more sharply after the news, to around $36,320, but has since risen again. Meanwhile, Ethereum's decline is slightly steeper: it is down 1.6% in the last hour to a current price of $1,973.
Binance and Zhao will reportedly plead guilty to violating US anti-money laundering requirements, and the exchange will pay a $4.3 billion settlement to address the charges. Zhao has reportedly agreed to resign from her executive position at the top exchange, sources say. The Wall Street Journal.
The Justice Department is expected to announce the agreement at 3 p.m. ET. The settlement will also reportedly resolve civil charges brought by the CFTC, but will not include a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
