Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by volume, has agreed to pay billions of dollars in fines to multiple U.S. agencies, including the largest in the corporate history to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The company's CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has stepped down and also faces potential prison time. The settlement process involves Binance leaving the U.S. market and agreeing to stringent oversight for several years. Separately, Kraken, another crypto exchange, faces a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accusing it of operating as an unregistered securities broker. Most of the allegations against Binance are derived from the company's reported failure to fulfill know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The federal allegations claimed that Binance knowingly allowed U.S. residents to trade on the platform without conducting any KYC or AML checks. Binance was also held accountable for not removing U.S. customers who traded against customers from sanctioned nations. The DOJ is also putting measures in place to monitor Binance’s activity for the next three years. Further, the Treasury, in collaboration with the DOJ, aims to allocate a significant portion of the penalty to support victims of state-sponsored terrorism. The SEC's lawsuit against Kraken involves allegations that the exchange acted as a broker, dealer, and clearing agency for unregistered securities. However, it is important to note that SEC Chair Gary Gensler was not among the officials announcing the settlements with Binance, likely because the SEC is seeking court victories to bolster its efforts to regulate crypto exchanges similar to U.S. stock exchanges.