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Saturday Nov 8 2025 21:10
2 min
In a recent interview, Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ and the former CEO of Binance, expressed some surprise at receiving a pardon from former United States President Donald Trump. CZ affirmed that he never met or spoke with Trump either before or after receiving the presidential pardon in October. He noted only meeting Eric Trump, the former president’s son, once at the Bitcoin Middle East and North Africa conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
CZ told Fox News: "There is no business relationship between me, Binance, and World Liberty Finance." He added that he was unaware of the status of his pardon during the process, explaining: "I did not know when or if it was going to happen. I believe my lawyers submitted the petition in April, and it took a few months. I didn’t know the progress. There was no indication of how far it went along, etc. Then, it happened one day.""
The pardon drew mixed reactions, with the crypto community largely celebrating it as a win for the industry and a reversal of the Biden administration's perceived anti-crypto policies. Conversely, Democratic lawmakers were critical of the pardon, accusing Trump of political corruption.
In a press conference following the pardon, Trump stated that he does not personally know CZ but was advised that the case against him was politically motivated. He added, "He had a lot of support, and they said that what he did is not even a crime, it wasn’t a crime. He was persecuted by the Biden administration."
Democratic Representative Maxine Waters accused Trump of entering into a “pay-to-play” agreement, pardoning CZ in exchange for crypto investments into projects and platforms associated with the Trump family, including World Liberty Financial (WLFI). This has prompted several Democratic lawmakers, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, to pen an open letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi scrutinizing Trump and the pardon.
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