US President Donald Trump has claimed he does not know and cannot recall meeting Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire co-founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, despite granting him a controversial presidential pardon last month.
In a Sunday interview with the CBS News program ’60 Minutes’, Trump defended his decision to pardon the crypto tycoon, also known as “CZ,” by stating he was told the case was an unjust “witch hunt” by the previous administration, even as he professed complete ignorance of the man himself.
‘I don’t know who he is’: Trump’s surprising defense
When confronted by ’60 Minutes’ host Norah O’Donnell about why he would pardon a man prosecutors said caused “significant harm to US national security,” the president offered a blunt and surprising response.
“Okay, are you ready? I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. He repeated the claim, adding that he did not recall meeting Zhao and had “no idea who he is.”
Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering, served four months in prison, and was forced to step down as CEO of Binance, the exchange he co-founded.
The pardon lifts restrictions that had prevented Zhao from running financial ventures.
A pardon amidst business ties and a ‘war on crypto’
The president’s claim of ignorance is complicated by business connections between Zhao and firms linked to the Trump family.
Zhao’s companies have partnered on digital currency projects with Dominari Holdings, a firm based in Trump Tower where the president’s sons serve on the board of advisers.
The White House has defended the pardon as a corrective measure against the Biden administration’s “war on cryptocurrency.”
At the time of the pardon, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Zhao’s case “overly prosecuted” and said the president had exercised his constitutional authority “to correct this overreach.”
During the ’60 Minutes’ interview, Trump reiterated his support for the crypto industry, arguing that the US must be a leader in the emerging technology to avoid ceding ground to rivals like China.
A pattern of pardons in the crypto world
The pardon of Changpeng Zhao is the latest in a series of clemency actions by President Trump that have benefited high-profile figures in the cryptocurrency industry.
Previously, the Trump administration halted a fraud case against crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who had invested in the Trump family’s crypto firm, World Liberty Financial.
Trump has also pardoned the founders of the crypto exchange BitMEX, who faced money laundering-related charges, as well as Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
It remains unclear how the pardon will affect Zhao’s standing with US financial regulators or his future role at Binance, which continues to be the world’s most used crypto exchange.
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