US President Donald Trump granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao previously served prison time after pleading guilty to failing to implement an anti-money laundering program, which allowed criminal activity – including child exploitation, drug trafficking and terrorism – to be facilitated through the platform. Despite the seriousness of the charges, Trump granted the pardon following Zhao’s request, a decision that raised questions because of Zhao’s ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture launched by Trump and his sons in September. World Liberty Financial has launched USD1, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. AP reported that Trump’s latest financial disclosure reveals that he earned more than $57 million from World Liberty Financial last year. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Biden administration’s prosecution of Zhao was politically motivated, with the goal of punishing the cryptocurrency industry. She stressed that there were “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims”, despite Zhao’s guilty plea. Zhao expressed remorse in court, saying, “I failed here. I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates
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