CZ Gets Presidential Pardon

Olivia Capozzalo & Camila Russo
October 23, 2025

gm, Defiers!

Today’s big story:

BNB ripped after Trump pardoned Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance.

In other news:

DraftKings taps Polymarket Clearing
Kinetiq unveils governance token
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📈 Markets in the Past 24 Hours

TICKER	VALUE	24H
Bitcoin	$109,742	1.68 %
Ethereum	$3,848.27	1.22 %
BNB	$1,087.83	1.66 %
XRP	$2.4	0.61 %
Solana	$190.36	3.96 %

Today’s Big Story

Trump Pardons CZ

Donald Trump has just wiped the slate clean for CZ. If you’re in crypto-world, you’re probably not gasping in horror. Because for most of the industry, what CZ was convicted of felt like a “light” crime. But that still doesn’t mean he should have been pardoned.

Here’s the quick version: CZ pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program at Binance, and the company itself settled for roughly $4.3 billion in penalties.

Here’s where the crypto-world shrug kicks in: crypto people aren’t exactly fazed. Because the whole premise of crypto is, after all: permissionless money. Self-custody services, where users don’t owe intermediaries any explanations. Binance is a centralized entity, so entirely different from a self-custodial solution. But still, it’s not like crypto people regard KYC/AML as sacrosanct. More like a necessary hassle before that can all be abstracted away with ZK tech. So if CZ didn’t gather quite enough KYC/AML data, many in this space won’t frown too much.

Plus, CZ already stepped down as CEO, paid a $50 million fine and spent about four months in prison.

So when Trump pardons him today, what does that actually imply?

For CZ, this is a big milestone. A pardon clears his federal conviction. It removes the looming shadow of the “felon CEO” label hanging over his name and opens paths that were previously closed or at least awkward. For Binance, it may signal the end of a serious regulatory brake.

So, was Trump right to pardon CZ? I still don’t think so.

Option one: It’s a largely symbolic gesture of the Trump administration saying, “The war on crypto is over.” On its face, that’s positive: crypto gets a break, innovation might get looser rules, and investment flows improve. But it’s not that crypto needs no regulation. It needs regulatory clarity. If crypto turns into a Wild West of scams and crime, that’s going to be detrimental to mainstream adoption. Pardoning someone for a compliance failure — even a “light crime” in crypto-terms — isn’t actually good for crypto.

Option two: This is a way for Trump to say “thank-you,” which is a polite way of saying it. Because yes — CZ and Binance have had business ties, overt and covert, with Trump’s circle. For example, reports show CZ and Binance worked with the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, including stablecoin USD1, and approved transactions where Binance’s wallets held billions of those tokens. So — is this pardon a reciprocal gesture? If so, that’s worse. Because it means the regulatory system is open to political patronage.

So even if you’re a CZ stan and love Binance, it will not be good for crypto in the long run if scammers read these signs to say, crime is okay in crypto.

With love,

Cami, founder of The Defiant

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