Key Takeaways
Why are Trump-Binance ties under scrutiny again?
Trump’s pardon for CZ and Binance U.S.’s USD1 listing reignited concerns over political influence and regulatory fairness.
What’s next for CZ?
The pardon restored his full civil and business rights, allowing a potential return to Binance’s leadership.
President Donald Trump’s crypto empire has hit the headlines again after pardoning Binance [BNB] founder Changpeng Zhao, “CZ.”
According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, CZ’s representatives allegedly reached out to Trump for a pardon with an offer. Part of the report read,
“Once Trump won, Binance formed a high-level task force to strike a deal with the Trumps’ nascent cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, that Binance could leverage into clemency for Zhao.”
The World Liberty Financial [WLFI] is a DeFi project backed by the Trump family. It has several products, including the fast-growing stablecoin, USD1.
WSJ claimed that Binance was behind the team that helped WLFI develop the USD1. Additionally, the report noted that the exchange convinced an Emirati state investor to pay for a stake ($2B) in the platform via USD1.
Overall, the Trump-backed DeFi project accrued $1.4 billion in revenue in 2024, partly fueled by USD1 clout and the sales of its native token, WLFI.
Divergent opinions on CZ’s pardon
However, WLFI denied influencing the CZ’s pardon. The company’s lawyer, Tom Clare, told WSJ that,
“World Liberty has never assisted in, facilitated, or influenced a decision on Mr. Zhao’s presidential pardon.”
However, critics have called out the clemency as a “pay-to-play” scheme. The recent move to list USD1, days after the pardon on Binance U.S., has been met with suspicion and corruption claims.
Senator Chris Murphy slammed the move and called the White House a “full-time, 24/7 corruption machine.”
Source: X
A similar stance was taken by Sen. Elizabeth Warren. She called CZ, a criminal who pleaded guilty to a “money laundering charge,” but has been pardoned after “financing” Trump’s stablecoin.
But Mr. Zhao clarified that he pleaded guilty to failing to maintain a proper anti-money laundering system and not to money laundering itself. In fact, he threatened a defamation suit against the Senator.
Mixed reactions from crypto leaders
Several crypto leaders, however, came out and supported Mr. Zhao’s pardon. David Bailey, for example, called it “justice served” and termed the charges against him as “punitive.”
CZ pleaded guilty to AML violations in 2023 and was sentenced to four months in prison. He coughed up a $50 million fine, and Binance also paid $4.3 billion in penalties.
As a convicted felon, he was barred from conducting business in the U.S or any leadership role. But the presidential pardon effectively restored his full civil and business rights, allowing him to return as Binance CEO, if he chooses.
