Trump Pardons CZ, Then Claims "No Idea Who He Is": Classic Trump or Crypto Cronyism?
So, Trump pardons Changpeng Zhao, the Binance guy who pleaded guilty to, you know, enabling money laundering. Then, in a "60 Minutes" interview, he pulls the "I don't know him" card. Give me a break.
The Amnesia Defense
"Okay, are you ready? I don't know who he is," Trump said, according to the BBC. Right. Like we're supposed to believe that. I mean, come on! The guy pardons a crypto billionaire and then pretends he picked the name out of a hat?
This whole thing stinks worse than week-old fish. It's like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat and then acting surprised when a rabbit appears. What, did he think we wouldn't notice?
And the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, calling Zhao's prosecution a "war on cryptocurrency"? Oh, please. Last time I checked, enabling money laundering was a crime, not a political statement. Talk about spinning a narrative.
Follow the Money (Or Try To)
Here's where it gets interesting – or, you know, even more infuriating. Zhao's companies have partnered with firms linked to Trump, including Dominari Holdings, based in Trump Tower, where his sons sit on the board. Coincidence? I think not.
Trump's also pardoned other crypto dudes, like the BitMEX founders and Justin Sun, after Sun's investments in the Trump family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial.
It's all connected, folks. A tangled web of money, influence, and pardons. It's enough to make you wanna puke.
Speaking of money, I'm still waiting for my cable company to fix the outage that's been going on for three days. Seriously, what am I paying them for? Oh, right, to watch this whole crypto circus unfold in glorious HD... when the damn cable works.
The Future of Crypto and Pardons
What does this pardon even mean? Does it change Zhao's standing with US regulators? His role at Binance? Nobody seems to know for sure. It lifts restrictions preventing him from running financial ventures, but... is that it?
And what about the SEC? Are they just gonna sit back and watch as crypto ETFs flood the market? Apparently, some companies are trying to sneak them through using a loophole that doesn't require SEC approval. Fidelity and Canary Capital have already filed updated S-1s, and we could see an XRP fund as soon as November 13th.
But will the SEC let it happen? James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, thinks some funds might launch next month, but others need SEC feedback before they can go live. So, it's a waiting game. A frustrating, predictable waiting game.
So, What's the Real Story?
Trump knew exactly who CZ was. This ain't some innocent mistake or a genuine misunderstanding. It's cronyism, plain and simple. And the fact that they're trying to gaslight us into believing otherwise? That's the real crime.
