Opinion: Binance Backlash is Growing, and CZ Pardon Shouldn’t Happen

Changpeng Zhao — better known as “CZ” — is facing a bit of pressure right now.

While he’s no longer involved in the day-to-day running of Binance, there’s widespread anger at how the exchange he founded handled last week’s crash.

A slew of major assets on the platform depegged as the market went into freefall, with technical issues contributing to $19 billion of liquidations over 24 hours.

Binance has set aside $700 million those who were most affected by the disruption.

However, this is a drop in the bucket compared with the revenues it generates.

And a cursory glance at the comments underneath the company’s official announcement shows that once-loyal users are still outraged.

“There is no ‘together’ with Binance. Enough is enough. Everyone needs to get their funds off Binance immediately.”

“I closed my Binance account. It’s just a scam platform. Their only concern is profit. Poor service.”

“BREAKING NEWS: Binance will be giving back the money that people lost on Binance.”

“Without Binance & CZ, crypto would be so much better.”

Yet another PR fallout emerged on Tuesday, when a crypto entrepreneur accused Binance of requesting 8% of his project’s potential token supply in order to be listed on the exchange. CJ Hetherington, who runs Limitless Labs, shared his criticism on X — and then claimed he had been blocked by CZ as a result.

Binance shot back with a lengthy statement of its own. It described the allegations as “false and defamatory” — and claimed Hetherington had engaged in the “illegal and unauthorized disclosure of confidential communications.”

“Given the egregiousness and inexcusability of CJ’s actions, we expressly reserve all of our rights, including taking legal action to protect our interests.”

CZ later jumped in with his own post on X, where he denied blocking him.

“Wow, this guy is really clout chasing, but what a loser. I didn’t even know who he was until he posted this fake image saying I blocked him. I could make it real. But I will choose Mute instead. Ignore is the best rejection.”

But beyond the fires that Binance is now fighting on multiple fronts, there’s a more pressing issue at hand: CZ asking Donald Trump for a presidential pardon.

Reports by New York Post columnist Charles Gasparino suggest that discussions have been “heating up” in the White House, as some in the president’s administration believe the case against the billionaire was “pretty weak.” The journalist explained:

“This could set the stage for CZ’s return to the crypto exchange since he remains Binance’s largest shareholder. Some in the White House are worrying about the optics of a pardon given the president’s business interests in crypto, so the situation is obviously fluid.”

And that brings us to the opinion of this piece: Changpeng Zhao should absolutely not receive a pardon.

Let’s not forget that Binance — as well as CZ — admitted to engaging in anti-money laundering and helping rogue actors evade economic sanctions. As former treasury secretary Janet Yellen said at the time:

“Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. Its willful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform.”

Prosecutors alleged that the exchange’s actions had aided the likes of Hamas, and facilitated human and drug trafficking.

Binance paid $4.4 billion to settle the charges — a drop in the bucket considering the exchange’s size. CZ was jailed for four months, despite the sentencing guidelines indicating that he could have expected 10 to 18 months. And following his resignation in November 2023, he wrote this:

“I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself.”

Seeking a presidential pardon is not taking responsibility — or accepting consequences for the mistakes you have made. And if clemency is granted, it could embolden bad actors across the crypto industry.

Alarm bells have already been sounded about the close ties between Binance and Trump’s crypto interests. A firm in the UAE recently made a $2 billion investment in this exchange using the USD1 stablecoin, which was launched by Trump’s World Liberty Financial. This gives CZ an extraordinary amount of leverage over a sitting president.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal sounded the alarm in an interview with The New York Times back in August, and said of a potential pardon:

“It lets criminals off the hook to the personal profit of the president and his family and his friends, and unleashes a convicted felon on a virtually unregulated crypto market.”

CZ doesn’t not deserve a pardon — and Binance’s spectacular meltdown, which caused countless numbers of users to lose staggering amounts of money, is just the latest reason why.

Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are the writer’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Cryptonews.com. This article is meant to provide a broad perspective on its topic and should not be taken as professional advice.

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