9 months ago

Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Amid Financial Scheme Accusations

Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Amid Financial Scheme Accusations
Why Trump pardoned crypto criminal Changpeng Zhao · theweek.com

Imagine someone ran a big online store for digital money, like Bitcoin.

This person, named Changpeng Zhao, was found guilty of letting bad people use his store to hide dirty money.

He had to pay a lot of money and was banned from running the store for a while.

But then, the President decided to forgive him, like a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Some people think this pardon might be because the store's technology is being used by a company connected to the President's family, potentially making them rich.

Others say the President just likes to pardon people who made money through financial deals, even if they broke rules.

It's like letting a celebrity off the hook because they know someone important, even though they did something wrong.

Key facts

Pardoned Individual
Changpeng Zhao (Founder of Binance)
Original Charges
Money Laundering
Binance's Fine
$4.3 billion (paid to US authorities)
Zhao's Personal Fine
$50 million
Zhao's Sentence
Four months in jail
Trump's Classification
Financial criminal

Quotes

Unidentified Source

Source commenting on Binance's business dealings

“willing to do work with al-Qa’eda, Isis, Hamas, ransomware hackers, and kiddie-porn enthusiasts”
theweek.com
“bear the downside risk, while corporations and the wealthy collect the upside”
theweek.com

Alex Kirshner

Commentator on Slate

“run of pardoning financial crooks”
theweek.com
“pardoned or commuted the sentences of 18 people or companies... guilty of fraud”
theweek.com

Kyla Scanlon

Commentator in The New York Times

“casino economy”
theweek.com
“built on speculation and risk”
theweek.com

Jim Geraghty

Commentator in National Review

“stunning in its shamelessness, recklessness, and moral inversion”
theweek.com

Max Chafkin

Commentator on Bloomberg

“joked about Hamas operatives using the service to buy weapons”
theweek.com

Sources

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