 
 
US President Donald Trump’s recent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has grabbed headlines. While some pro-crypto commentators hail the presidential pardon as a way to clear CZ’s record and allow him to rejoin the global crypto exchange, U.S. House Representative Maxine Waters (D-California) strongly opposes the move.
In a Thursday press release, Waters suggested that the U.S. President chose to do “massive favors for crypto criminals” while making no effort to end the government shutdown, now three weeks in.
“Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao — who pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering and facilitating suspicious transactions with child abusers, drug dealers, and terrorists — is an appalling but unsurprising reflection of his presidency,” the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee wrote.
Trump indicated that his decision to pardon Zhao came after “a lot of people,” told him the crypto billionaire wasn’t guilty.
“It wasn’t a crime; he was persecuted by the Biden Administration,” Trump postulated.
 
Zhao was slapped with a four-month prison sentence in April 2024 after pleading guilty to one count of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act for failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance. He became a free man in September 2024.
Pay-To Play Crypto Ties
Rep. Waters alleged that the pardon was a result of Zhao’s months of lobbying to Trump and his family, while he funneled billions into the Trump family crypto initiative World Liberty Financial.
“The pardon was the payoff and a blatant example of the kind of pay-to-play corruption that Trump and his Administration continue to engage in,” she opined, adding that the President’s pardon effectively legitimizes the crypto crime he was convicted of.
Since assuming office in January, Trump has pardoned several people he believed had been inappropriately convicted by the Biden administration, including Silk Road creator and Bitcoin icon Ross Ulbricht.
Zhao’s having his criminal record deleted has sparked speculation in the crypto community that Trump might also pardon the former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/congresswoman-maxine-waters-lambastes-president-trumps-pardon-of-binances-cz/