Canadian Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of %Cryptocurrency exchange %Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering charges.

The prison term is significantly less than the three years that federal prosecutors had requested. The defense had asked for five months of probation and no jail time.

Sentencing guidelines for the money laundering charges that Zhao pled guilty to call for a prison term of 12 to 18 months.

Last November, Zhao, known in the crypto world by his initials “CZ,” struck a deal with the U.S. government to resolve a multiyear investigation into Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

As part of the settlement, CZ agreed to step down as the CEO of Binance.

Though he is no longer involved in the daily operations of Binance, Zhao is widely reported to have an estimated 90% stake in the privately held crypto exchange.

CZ pled guilty to willfully failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program as required by the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, and of allowing Binance to process transactions that involved proceeds from unlawful activity.

The U.S. ordered Binance to pay $4.3 billion U.S. in fines and forfeitures. Zhao himself agreed to pay a $50 million U.S. fine as part of the settlement with American prosecutors.

Separately, Binance is being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over the alleged mishandling of customer assets and the operation of an unregistered exchange in the U.S.

In a written statement, Binance said that it will strive to foster a “culture of compliance, security, and transparency” as it continues to evolve.

CZ, age 47, is a Canadian citizen. Raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, he earned a computer science degree from McGill University in Montreal before founding Binance in 2017.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, CZ is the 69th-richest person in the world, and richest Canadian citizen, with an estimated net worth of $23 billion U.S.

He is expected to serve his four-month sentence at a minimum-security prison near Seattle, Washington. CZ has most recently been living in the United Arab Emirates.