US President Donald Trump has addressed the controversial pardon recently granted to Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, denying any connection to the cryptocurrency mogul and allegations of possible corruption.
The US President addresses the pardon of Binance founder
On CBS News’ recent 60 Minutes program interviewPresident Trump has defended his decision to pardon Binance co-founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, which has faced significant backlash from several members of the US Congress.
On October 23, the White House revealed Trump’s pardon of Zhao, two years after he pleaded guilty, stressing that the US President “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon to Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in its war on cryptocurrency.”
CBS News correspondent Norah O’Donnell asked the US President about the reasons for his decision to pardon the former CEO of Binance, who pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering (AML) violations in 2023 while leading the cryptocurrency exchange.
Trump explained that he did not know who Zhao personally was or who he was, but he had heard that his case was part of the Biden administration’s “witch hunt” against the cryptocurrency industry, and had been “set up” and “victimized and weaponized” by the previous government, like him and many others.
This guy had, in my opinion, from what I was told, this was, you know, a four-month prison sentence. But this man was treated very poorly by the Biden administration. He was sentenced to prison. He is very respected. He is a very successful man. They sent him to prison and they actually set him up. This is my opinion. I’ve been told about it.
Trump is ‘not concerned’ about corruption allegations
Further detailing his reasons, the US President stressed that he knew “it might look bad”, but he had to “do the right thing” by pardoning the Binance co-founder, later adding that he was “not concerned” about the emergence of corruption and play-for-play.
Notably, Democratic lawmakers have lobbied several government officials, including the US special envoy for peace missions, the former acting head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), about Trump’s crypto projects and potential conflicts of interest.
Among the concerns, lawmakers questioned a $2 billion deal between Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and UAE firm MGX, facilitated by Binance, alleging that the president had heralded a “stunning model of corruption” by using a single US dollar to finance business between “a foreign government-backed entity (MGX) and a foreign company that has pleaded guilty to criminal violations of US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws (Binance).”
When asked about the potential play-for-play look, Trump confirmed that he knew nothing about the deal because he is “very busy” and his children oversee the family’s cryptocurrency projects.
I can only tell you this. My children are in it. I’m glad they are, because it’s probably a great industry, cryptocurrencies. I think it’s good. You know, they’re running businesses, they’re not in government. (…) My children are much more involved in cryptocurrencies than I am. I-I know very little about her, other than one thing. It’s a huge industry. If we’re not going to lead this, China or Japan or somewhere else will. So I support that 100%.
The US President stated that he wants to “make cryptocurrencies great for America” and does not want another country to be a world leader in the industry, because it is “the kind of industry where you will basically have number one, and you will not have number two.”
He concluded by saying: “Right now, we are number one by a large margin (…). In the same way that we are number one in the field of artificial intelligence, we are number one in the field of cryptocurrencies. And I want to keep it that way.”
WLFI trades at $0.12 in the one-week chart. Source: WLFIUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
Editing process Bitcoinist focuses on providing well-researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We adhere to strict sourcing standards, and every page is carefully reviewed by our team of senior technology experts and experienced editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content to our readers.
The post Trump Denies Ties To Binance’s CZ, Corruption Concerns first appeared on Investorempires.com.
