"He served a four-month prison term and paid a $50 million fine. Zhao, usually called "CZ" in crypto circles, had to leave his role leading Binance but maintained his ownership of the exchange. This spring, Binance made a deal with Donald Trump's crypto firm to host the president's stablecoin, generating tens of millions of dollars for Trump and his family. Now Zhao has gotten something very good in return: a pardon,"
"The Trump administration says that this is one thing: a righting of the Biden administration's antipathy toward crypto. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says that Zhao "was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency. The Biden administration's war on crypto is over." Of course, Zhao's pardon is actually another thing: the latest step in Trump's legalization of financial crimes if the people committing them are either fans of his or, more ideally, enriching him."
Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to money-laundering violations, served a four-month prison term, and paid a $50 million fine. Zhao resigned as Binance CEO but retained ownership of the exchange. Binance struck a deal with Donald Trump's crypto firm to host the president's stablecoin, generating tens of millions of dollars for Trump and his family. The Trump administration issued a pardon for Zhao. The White House framed the pardon as ending the previous administration's antipathy toward cryptocurrency. The prosecution targeted facilitating money laundering rather than crypto-specific offenses, noting a lack of tailored criminal laws for crypto.
Read at Slate Magazine
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