Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has confirmed that his legal team has applied for him to get a pardon in the US. This comes a few months after the former CEO denied reports of a deal with President Trump’s family that would see him get pardoned.
At the time, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had claimed that the Trump family wanted to buy a stake in Binance.US in exchange for granting Zhao a pardon. However, the ex-CEO denied this on X, noting that there have been no such meetings and that the report is just a fabrication.
Interestingly, he acknowledged in his X post that he would not mind being pardoned by the US government, noting that he is the only person sentenced to prison for a single Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) charge.
It appears that Zhao has now initiated efforts to get the presidential pardon. In a conversation on the crypto podcast Rug Radio, he said the application was submitted about two weeks ago, referencing how other crypto personalities, including Bitmex CEO Arthur Hayes, have been pardoned.
However, he clarified that he only decided to apply after the Bloomberg and WSJ article came out. According to him, he is still very interested in getting a pardon and will go through the legal process of applying for one.
Zhao doubled down on his criticisms of the traditional media’s portrayal of the crypto industry. He noted that there have been false and fabricated reports from mainstream media and warned that such actions will continue to hurt their reputation.
CZ raises concerns about memecoins
Meanwhile, the former Binance CEO noted that there is too much money in memecoins, and the market is paying too much attention to them. This was in response to the question of what the potential rot in the crypto ecosystem could be at the moment.
According to him, most memecoins fail due to their risk and short-term nature. Thus, they are not valuable enough for the interest they get. However, Zhao added that most memecoin traders already know and accept these risks of failure.
This view aligns with many who have been critical of memecoins and believe it has caused more damage to the crypto space. Interestingly, the interest in memecoins has plateaued due to the market downturn and the crash in the value of most memecoins.
Still, Zhao admitted that memecoins are taking attention from utility projects. He blamed this on the previous Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stance, which saw most crypto projects as securities.
With the new SEC administration deregulating the market and allowing them to take risks again, Zhao expects builders to return to the crypto space.
Zhao praises Trump’s pro-crypto moves
Interestingly, the former Binance CEO disclosed that he had never spoken with Trump. He explained that Binance is a foreign company, which means it cannot donate to any political campaign, and he personally avoids getting involved in elections.
However, he praised the achievements of the Trump administration in the crypto industry. According to him, the idea that the US would see a 180-degree shift in its approach to the industry would have been unimaginable years ago, but it is now achievable due to the power of democracy.
He said:
“We as an industry are very lucky that the current US president is very pro-crypto, and he is very smart.”
Still, he stated that Binance.US does not have any major plans in the US yet, even though it continues to operate. Zhao mentioned that he is the majority shareholder in Binance.US, and the exchange equity arrangement has not changed.
