Rep. Maxine Waters rejects Trump’s pardon for Binance founder

President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on Thursday, sparking a backlash from Democrats who accuse the administration of rewarding criminal behavior during a government shutdown in exchange for billions allegedly funneled to Trump’s personal crypto ventures.

“Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao – who pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering and facilitating suspicious transactions with child molesters, drug dealers and terrorists – is an abhorrent but unsurprising reflection of his presidency: a presidency defined by corruption, self-interest and loyalty to criminals over American working-class families,” Ranking Member Maxine Waters said Wednesday. statement.

On Myriad, the prediction markets platform developed by Decode parent company DASTAN, predict users that this will be the longest government shutdown in US history.

Zhao, known as ‘CZ’, pleaded guilty in 2023 for violating U.S. money laundering laws and served four months in federal prison after resigning as CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange.

The White House confirmed the pardon Thursday, with Press Secretary Karoline Levitt defending the move as an end to “the Biden administration’s war on crypto.”

“CZ has lobbied Trump and his family for months while funneling billions into Trump’s personal crypto firm, World Liberty Financial,” Waters said. The pardon was the reward and a blatant example of the kind of pay-to-play corruption that Trump and his administration continue to engage in.”

The pardon comes amid investigations into Trump’s close ties to the crypto industry and whether his administration’s dovish stance reflects policy priorities or personal interests.

Trump’s family reportedly did just that $1 billion in profits from crypto companies, and Zhao’s Binance has done the same billions invested in Trump’s World Liberty Financial project.

Fake news

When journalists asked Regarding the pardon and whether it had anything to do with Zhao’s involvement in his family’s crypto businesses, Trump said: “Well, you don’t know much about crypto.

“You know nothing about nothing, you are fake news.” Trump noted, saying he pardoned Zhao “at the request of a lot of very good people” who told him “what he did isn’t even a crime.”

“If Congress doesn’t stop this kind of corruption in the upcoming Market Structure legislation, it will be worth this lawlessness,” Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted after the pardon.

“A U.S. senator cannot get her facts straight in a public post about someone’s indictment,” Zhao said. tweetedin response to Warren’s criticism. “There were NO money laundering charges.”

YouTube crypto researcher Coffeezilla pointed out the financial connections in a recent tweet, noting that a $2 billion investment in Binance by MGX would have been paid for in Trump’s USD1 stablecoin, generating an estimated $60-80 million per year for World Liberty Financial through government bond yields.

Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, said Declutter the pardon “paves the way for a potential return of the CEO, and such a move could boost Binance’s U.S. expansion, attract institutional capital and further Trump’s pledge to make America the “capital of crypto.”

There is also increasing speculation about a possible pardon for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is serving 25 years for fraud, after conservative activist Laura Loomer claimed a “massive and well-funded” campaign is underway on his behalf.

Although this is unlikely to happen given the fallout from the previous bull run, compounded by the magnitude of his crimes, his 25-year prison sentence, and the deep resentment he still faces within the crypto community.