Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has responded to US Senator Elizabeth Warren’s assertion that he “pleaded guilty to a criminal money-laundering charge.”
In a post on X, Zhao stated that Warren “can’t get her facts right” because her public statement claimed he “pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison.”
“There were NO money laundering [charges],” CZ clarified.
Zhao pleaded guilty to a single felony count of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement an effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program at Binance. This led to his sentencing of four months in prison in April 2024.
One user on X suggested Zhao was “playing semantics,” arguing that the plea was effectively a “money-laundering conviction.” Zhao countered that he accepted responsibility for compliance failures, not for money laundering himself.
Senator Warren's Accusations Against Trump
Senator Warren also claimed in her post that Zhao “financed President Donald Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon.” This statement follows Zhao’s earlier comment that he “wouldn’t mind a pardon” from Trump at the end of 2024. Warren stated:
If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it.
In mid-July, Zhao also announced his intention to sue Bloomberg over a report that linked him to the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin. The report, which remains accessible, asserts that Binance developed the foundational code for USD1, leading critics to suggest potential conflicts of interest for Trump.
Other Lawmakers Voice Concerns
Warren’s remarks echo sentiments expressed by US Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Financial Services. In a statement released on Friday, Waters asserted that “Trump is doing massive favors for crypto criminals who have helped line his pockets.”
Waters further stated, “Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao—who pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering and facilitating suspicious transactions with child abusers, drug dealers, and terrorists—is an appalling but unsurprising reflection of his presidency.”
These accusations of corruption come amid reports indicating a significant increase in Trump’s personal wealth during his second term, with pre-tax profits reportedly exceeding $1 billion over the past year. Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s son, has suggested that the family’s actual profits may be higher.