But if he pleads not guilty and there is no deal with them, what will happen to Binance? I believe he is thinking more about the future of binance and the BNB blockchain ecosystem than he is thinking about himself. After all, those are two passionate products that he has worked hard to build over the years. He may not be arrested but his two products will certainly be destroyed if he does not agree to any deal. I think CZ's punishment will be the same as Arthur Hayes.
In history of cryptocurrency market so far, there is no centralized exchange that can successfully defend its leading position for more than one market cycle. Mt. Gox, BitMEX, Poloniex/ Bittrex, Binance. Binance is the CEX that has come very nearly to achieve it as a next market cycle is almost kicked off as a next Bitcoin halving is only five months from now.
If CZ refuses to plead guilty, Binance will continue to be investigated and under massive attacks from governments, regulatory authorities and other competitive exchanges. This even is like a bomb rescue from CZ and Binance and I think it is good for cryptocurrency market in general because before a bull run, a big bomb is taken off already.