The President of the United States, Donald Trump, denied, this Sunday (2), any personal relationship or conflict of interest in the pardon granted to Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In an interview with the program 60 Minutesyes CBS NewsTrump claimed that CZ’s case was “a Biden witch hunt” and rejected accusations of favoring companies associated with his family.
“I don’t know him. I’ve never met him,” said Trump, who denied any favors due to existing business deals between his children and the brokerage. “This had nothing to do with my children or my business.”
The president defended the decision by stating that “his (CZ) case was a Biden witch hunt. A political persecution, not a criminal one.”
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During the interview, journalist Norah O’Donnell directly questioned whether the decision to pardon CZ was linked to World Liberty Financial, an asset tokenization company associated with Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, which maintains commercial partnerships with Binance.
“No, not at all,” Trump responded. “This is about America’s financial future, not my children.”
The president said he considered CZ’s conviction a “political mistake” and stated that the United States should “reward success instead of punishing innovation”.
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“He was targeted because he made the United States look small. The Biden administration treated the crypto sector like the enemy, and that was a huge mistake.”
When asked whether the pardon indicated an institutional turn in economic policy, Trump stated that the measure is part of a strategic repositioning of the US in the digital economy.
“I support crypto 100%. If we don’t do it, China, Japan or someone will,” he said. “I want us to be number 1 in the world.”
Trump described the decision as a gesture of technological sovereignty, linking it to his tariffs, energy and reindustrialization agenda. According to him, financial innovation is now “part of the American doctrine of economic power”.
“When we talk about national security, we’re talking about energy, we’re talking about artificial intelligence, and now we’re talking about crypto. Everything is connected.”
Remember the case
Changpeng Zhao was convicted in 2023, during the Joe Biden administration, after pleading guilty to violations of anti-money laundering (AML) laws and control failures at Binance. He served four months in prison and was fined US$50 million, while the exchange paid US$4.3 billion in an agreement with American authorities.
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The presidential pardon, signed in October, lifted remaining restrictions against CZ and reinstated his business rights in the US.
The measure was criticized by Democrats in Congress and former members of the Justice Department, who allege political use of the clemency instrument.
O’Donnell cited these criticisms during the interview, asking whether Trump was “rewarding someone who admitted to breaking the law.” The president replied:
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“He acknowledged administrative errors, not crimes. That’s very different.”
“The previous government tried to destroy the crypto sector because they didn’t understand it.”
