A United States District Court sitting in Seattle has sentenced the founder and former chief executive of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, Changpeng Zhao, to four months in prison, The New York Times reports.

The Binance boss who according to Forbes, has an estimated fortune of $33 billion, had in 2023, pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges, as he acknowledged that terrorist groups and other criminals made use of its platform.

While the prosecution prayed the court to slam a three-year prison sentence on Mr Zhao, for the “unprecedented” crime, the defence lawyers, pleaded that probation without any prison time be handed out to him instead.

Giving his judgement, Judge Richard A. Jones, said that Mr Zhao had admitted that he was responsible for his offences, hence was unlikely to break the law again.

Praising the 47-year-old’s “staggering accomplishment” in building his platform, and describing him as “a dedicated family man and a giving person,” the judge concluded that, “your conduct does not warrant a 36-month sentence.”

Responding to the sentence in court, Mr Zhao said, “I failed here, I deeply regret my failure, and I’m sorry.”

The judgment by the federal court house on Tuesday appeared a much lighter sentence than those handed out to other erring cryptocurrency executives since 2022, such as Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX cryptocurrency exchange who is currently serving a 25-year jail term for fraud