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President Trump pardoned the founder of the crypto marketplace Binance, Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ. His company has become an important supporter of the Trump family's own crypto business. NPR's Bobby Allyn reports.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: CZ predicted it. In May, eight months out of prison, he appeared on a tech-friendly podcast to discuss Trump's pro-crypto policies.
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CHANGPENG ZHAO: I was like, yeah, well, obviously, this will be a good guy for our industry...
FAROKH SARMAD: Yeah.
ZHAO: ...And also for any sort of people who have a criminal charge.
SARMAD: Yeah.
ALLYN: Like himself. During the Biden administration, federal prosecutors said CZ turned a blind eye to criminal activity on Binance. CZ pled guilty to money laundering charges and stepped down from the company. It was forced to shut down in the U.S. After Trump was elected, CZ - a China-born, Canadian-raised billionaire - pushed for a pardon. Binance struck a multibillion-dollar deal with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's crypto venture. Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economics professor, says the pardon looks like a quid pro quo.
ESWAR PRASAD: The Trump administration seems to be willing to use the U.S. government machinery to support the Trump family's crypto-related interests.
ALLYN: Not so, says White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She says the pardon was appropriate because the Biden White House was too harsh on crypto companies.
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KAROLINE LEAVITT: The president wants to correct this overreach of the Biden administration's misjustice, and he exercised his constitutional authority to do so.
ALLYN: The pardon could pave the way for Binance to reenter the U.S., according to Henry Farrell. He's a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University.
HENRY FARRELL: I would expect that we are going to see a return to a world in which a lot of crazy things will happen on these crypto platforms without the same kinds of controls or without any great degree of fear from the owners of these crypto platforms.
ALLYN: CZ, who now lives in the United Arab Emirates, has some other plans. Shortly after the pardon he posted on X - book releasing soon.
Bobby Allyn, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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