In a letter to U.S. Judge Richard A. Jones for the Western District of Washington filed on Tuesday, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao apologized for his “poor decisions” at the helm of the crypto exchange ahead of his sentencing over anti-money laundering and sanctions violations.

“I apologize for my poor decisions and accept full responsibility for my actions,” Zhao wrote in the letter dated Feb. 2. “In hindsight, I should have focused on implementing compliance changes at Binance from the get-go, and I did not. There is no excuse for my failure to establish the necessary compliance controls at Binance."

Zhao said he wished he could change that, describing how chaotic it was to keep Binance afloat in the early years, but argued Binance now has the most stringent anti-money laundering …