US President Donald Trump pardoned the founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, who was previously convicted of violating anti-money laundering laws. This was reported by 'Ukrainska Pravda' citing Bloomberg.
Bilaцьkyi was relieved: Trump pardoned Zhao, who previously faced prison time for financial fraud. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt explained that the president decided to intervene in the case, saving the prosecuted protégé who had clashed with Biden over crypto issues.
Prior to this, the president had several alternative pardons related to the former anti-crypto policy of the US - Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and the creators of BitMEX found a lifeline in Trump.
The briefing was lively: Trump said that it's not so hard to agree to a pardon, especially when it is discussed globally. In other words, Zhao and company had plenty of supporters who had to defend their interests.
In April 2024, the founder of Binance was convicted for dubious financial maneuvers that prosecutors believed harmed national security. How deeply the laws were broken and whether the country was actually threatened - researchers are already pondering.
It is also worth mentioning that recently Trump approved the use of the death penalty in Washington, presenting it as an effective means of crime prevention.
Officials at all levels contributed their share to the crypto mess: Trump pardoned Zhao and other figures in the management of financial flows and also squeezed out the possibility of execution for marking electronic notes.