The Curious Case of CZ's Pardon: A Data-Driven Look
Donald Trump says 'I don't know who he is,' says Trump after pardoning crypto tycoon, Changpeng Zhao, the crypto mogul pardoned last month. Okay. Let's unpack this, shall we? It's not about whether Trump literally knows CZ—it’s about the pattern this pardon fits into, and the potential financial incentives swirling around it.
The claim that Trump is ignorant of Zhao clashes directly with the documented connections between Trump's associates and Zhao's ventures. We're told that Zhao's companies partnered with firms linked to Trump, including Dominari Holdings, where Trump's sons sit on the board. Now, I've seen enough corporate org charts to know that those kinds of connections rarely happen by accident. The White House Press Secretary called Zhao's prosecution a "war on cryptocurrency," which is a pretty convenient narrative when you're trying to justify a pardon that looks, well, suspicious.
The pardon itself lifts restrictions that prevented Zhao from running financial ventures. The key question is whether it alters his standing with US regulators. It's hard to quantify the precise impact of this pardon (details on its legal scope remain scarce), but the timing is interesting. Zhao pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering in 2023, served a mere four months, and then gets a get-out-of-jail-free card from Trump? That timeline raises more questions than it answers.
The Crypto Connection: A Pattern of Pardons?
This isn't a one-off. The Trump administration previously halted a fraud case against crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun after investments in the Trump family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial. And Trump also pardoned founders of the crypto exchange BitMEX and Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder. See a pattern emerging? It’s not just about individual cases; it’s about a consistent willingness to intervene on behalf of individuals in the crypto space, even those with questionable backgrounds.
And this is the part that I find genuinely puzzling. Why this sector? Is it because Trump genuinely believes in the future of cryptocurrency? Or is there a more tangible financial motivation at play? The stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial was slated to be used by an Abu Dhabi firm for a $2 billion investment in Binance. Two billion dollars. That's not chump change. It’s the kind of figure that can motivate… well, let's just say "interesting" decisions.
Karoline Leavitt's claim of an "overly prosecuted case" doesn’t hold water under scrutiny. Zhao pleaded guilty. That's not an "overly prosecuted case"; that's a confession. The argument that Trump is simply "correcting" a perceived injustice falls apart when you consider the facts of the case. Zhao admitted to enabling money laundering. He didn't claim innocence; he negotiated a plea deal.
The key takeaway? The "I don't know him" defense doesn't negate the pattern of behavior. Trump may not know CZ personally, but his administration has repeatedly intervened in ways that benefited individuals and companies in the crypto space.
Follow the Money
The connections, the pardons, the timing… it all points to a situation where personal financial interests and political decisions are blurring in ways that should make any rational person uneasy. Trump's claim of ignorance might be technically true (who knows what's rattling around in that head of his?), but it's strategically misleading. The data suggests that Trump knows exactly what he’s doing.
