Crypto
- CZ denies WSJ’s claim that Trump’s family discussed acquiring a Binance.US stake, calling the report inaccurate.
- He stated he never discussed any US deal or pardon, dismissing similar allegations from WSJ and Bloomberg.
- Zhao claims the reports are politically motivated and seek to stain the crypto industry.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has denied a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that claimed representatives of US President Donald Trump’s family discussed acquiring a stake in Binance.US, which Zhao denied.
WSJ delivered it as an Exclusive piece citing “people familiar with the matter”. Ethical journalism at its peak right there.
Writing on X, Zhao dismissed the article as inaccurate and suggested it was designed to discredit the president and the crypto sector.
Zhao made it crystal clear that he has had no discussions of a Binance US deal with “anyone”, and noted that over 20 people contacted him after the WSJ and another media outlet asked if he had arranged “some deal for a pardon”.
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No Felon Would Mind a Pardon
According to the WSJ, Binance reached out to Trump’s allies last year as part of a plan to revitalise its US operations, and the report alleged that Zhao was seeking a pardon from the president.
Zhao countered that the report appeared to have political intentions, probably from actors of the past Biden administration:
No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge. Feels like the article is motivated as an attack on the President and crypto, and the residual forces of the “war on crypto” from the last administration are still at work.
Changpeng Zhao
But it didn’t stop there. Bloomberg was, as Zhao put it, another “media” that published another “baseless hit piece”. What’s even worse is that Bloomberg’s piece came with the following statements:
It’s not clear what stage the discussions have reached or whether they’ll result in any transactions or ventures (…) The substance of the meeting with Zhao isn’t clear.
Bloomberg
To which Zhao had only one thing to say:
They basically admitted that their whole article is purely imaginary. Is this what ‘news’ has become?
Changpeng Zhao
At least Zhao took it with humour, stating that “it’s good to see that even WSJ thinks I should be pardoned”.
