In recent days, Senator Elizabeth Warren took to X to criticize President Trump’s decision to pardon Changpeng “CZ” Zhou, Binance founder and former CEO. Senator Warren is a longtime critic of digital assets and financial services firms in general. She sits on the key Senate Banking Committee, where she frequently hammers banks and some Fintechs.
Senator Warren stated:
“CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison. But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon. Today, he got it. If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it.”
The senator was challenged by BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, who took a moment to explain to the senator the facts of events:
“You’re incorrect, [Senator Warren]. CZ pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain an effective AML program, not money laundering. Without minimizing the severity of that, he’s the only person ever to receive jail time solely for this violation, while traditional banks like TD Bank pay billions in fines for massive AML failures with no execs imprisoned. This disparity highlights how he was unjustly persecuted for being in crypto, and is why the pardon is absolutely justified.”
In the early days of crypto exchanges, few, if any, trading platforms incorporated AML/KYC protocols—something Binance quickly addressed once it became established.
Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of the Digital Chamber of Commerce, jumped into the conversation, sharing her opinion:
“This is how little Sen. Warren understands this case: CZ did not plead to money laundering. He is the first and only first-time offender in U.S. history to serve prison time for a single, non-fraud BSA charge. Meanwhile, big banks paid billions for AML lapses with no senior execs jailed. A manifest injustice worthy of a pardon.”
Senator Warren’s claim has also received a community note to add context.
Senator Warren is one of the most left-wing members of Congress, garnering the top progressive score, easily topping Democrat Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.