Trump’s pardon of Czechoslovakia is poised to impact the crypto world

Changpeng Zhao, billionaire founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, He spent four months Last year he was locked up in a federal prison. After US President Donald Trump Excuse me, Ciao In October, the government reclassified him as a martyr.

Chow, who passes Czechoslovakia, plead guilty in November 2023 to failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance. In parallel, Binance admitted to violating US sanctions and reached a settlement with financial regulators, which… The company accused and failure to report suspicious transactions involving terrorist groups, child exploitation networks, and cybercriminals, among other violations. In a private incriminating exchange detailed in court documents, a Binance employee did just that He said to a colleague“We see the bad but we close our eyes.”

As part of their settlement deals, Chow Agreed to step down from his role as CEO of Binance, and Binance Agreed To leave the United States, accept supervision by a US-appointed compliance monitor, and pay a record fine of $4.3 billion.

Less than two years later, the narrative has flipped. On October 23, Trump Hit the counts From Chow’s criminal record. A White House spokesperson announced that the Binance founder was a victim of the Biden administration’s “war on cryptocurrencies.”

The decision to pardon Zhao will resonate throughout the US cryptocurrency exchange market, which Binance could seek to re-enter, legal experts claim. It may also come with long-term political consequences for the cryptocurrency industry after the Trump presidency ends.

Whether Chow’s pardon was justified has been hotly debated, especially in light of the ties between Binance and World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company founded by Trump and his sons. (Through a corporate entity, the Trump family It owns a 38 percent stake At World Liberty Financial’s parent company.) In May, Binance agreed Get a $2 billion investment worth $1a coin issued by World Liberty Financial, which could earn tens of millions of dollars from this arrangement. In July, Bloomberg I mentioned Binance has developed the codebase for USD1.

Interestingly, Trump claims to know little about Zhao. “Okay, are you ready? I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. He said 60 minutes In an interview that aired on November 2, he said later in the interview: “I can only tell you this. My children are interested in (cryptocurrencies).”

The legal representatives of Zhao and Industry allies They defended amnesty as a legitimate corrective. “CZ is the first and only known offender in U.S. history to receive a prison sentence for this single, non-fraud-related count,” Teresa Judy Guillén, a partner at the law firm Baker & Hostettler, which is representing Chow, wrote in a report. Share on X.