Binance kingpin Changpeng “CZ” Zhao drops a bomb on X, snapping back at Senator Elizabeth Warren with an epic clapback. No, he didn’t plead guilty to money laundering. Cue the dramatic gasps.
Presidential pardon
Warren threw down the accusation that CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money-laundering charge.
CZ responded with, “She can’t get her facts right” and clarified that there were zero money-laundering charges against him.
The real headline? CZ admitted to one felony count, violating the US Bank Secrecy Act by not keeping Binance’s Anti-Money Laundering program tight. That little snafu landed him a four-month prison sentence.
And CZ just got a shiny presidential pardon signed off by none other than President Donald J. Trump himself.
Binance confirmed the pardon, making it official. Of course, some wannabe social media detectives called CZ out for playing semantics, insisting a plea touching on AML failures still smells like money laundering.
CZ’s defense? He owned the compliance slip-ups but never personally laundered a dime.
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Corruption
Warren’s post didn’t stop there. She accused CZ of backing Trump’s so-called stablecoin and lobbying for that pardon, suggesting the whole circus screams corruption.
“If Congress doesn’t stop this kind of corruption, it owns it,” she warned. Spoiler alert, CZ had hinted late last year he “wouldn’t mind a pardon.”
Back in July, CZ threatened to sue Bloomberg after they reported Binance helped code the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin, a move critics said could create serious conflicts of interest. That story is still making waves.
Crypto’s reputation
The drama ramps up with Democrat Maxine Waters jumping into the fray. She blasted Trump for doing massive favors for crypto criminals, slamming CZ’s pardon as emblematic of Trump’s presidency.
Waters painted a grim picture of Binance enabling shady dealings with child abusers, drug dealers, and terrorists, talk about a plot twist.
Whether this show spells trouble for crypto’s reputation or just another day in political theater is anyone’s guess.
But the clash between CZ and Warren is the latest chapter in a high-stakes drama of crypto, corruption, and presidential pardons that’s likely far from over.
Cryptocurrency and Web3 expert, founder of Kriptoworld
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With years of experience covering the blockchain space, András delivers insightful reporting on DeFi, tokenization, altcoins, and crypto regulations shaping the digital economy.
