Key Takeaway: President Trump says he has no idea who Changpeng Zhao is, despite recently pardoning the Binance founder tied to his family’s $5 billion crypto ventures.
The Shocking Admission
In a stunning contradiction, President Donald Trump claimed during a 60 Minutes interview on November 3, 2025, that he doesn’t know who Changpeng Zhao is—just weeks after granting the cryptocurrency billionaire a presidential pardon. When asked why he pardoned the Binance founder despite prosecutors saying he caused “significant harm to US national security,” Trump responded bluntly: “I don’t know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.”
Trump insisted he has “no clue” who Zhao is and has never met him. He claimed he granted the pardon “at the request of a lot of very good people” who told him what Zhao did “wasn’t even a crime” and that he was “persecuted” by the Biden administration.
Who Is Changpeng Zhao?
Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, is one of the world’s wealthiest individuals with an estimated net worth of $85-88 billion. As founder of Binance—the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange—Zhao commands a platform that controls 38% of global spot trading volume and serves over 280 million users worldwide.
In November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act after Binance failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls. The platform had facilitated over 1.5 million transactions worth approximately $900 million that violated US sanctions, including transfers involving Hamas, Al Qaeda, and ISIS.
Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison and released on September 27, 2024, after serving his full sentence. Binance paid a record $4.3 billion in corporate penalties—among the largest settlements in US history—while Zhao personally paid a $50 million fine.
The Family Connection Trump Denied Knowing About
Despite Trump’s claimed ignorance, significant financial ties connect Zhao’s Binance to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency operations. Most notably, in May 2025, Abu Dhabi’s state-backed investment fund MGX invested $2 billion in Binance using USD1—a stablecoin created by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto company.
World Liberty Financial, founded by Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump along with Zach Witkoff (whose father serves as Trump’s Middle East envoy), generated approximately $802 million in cryptocurrency income during the first half of 2025 alone.
The Trump family controls 38% of World Liberty Financial and receives 75% of token-sale revenue after expenses. Trump’s latest financial disclosure revealed $57.4 million in income from World Liberty Financial before the MGX deal.
A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that Binance was quietly administering a trading platform for World Liberty Financial, and that Witkoff and other World Liberty co-founders had met with Zhao in Abu Dhabi to discuss business arrangements.
Industry Reaction and Ethical Concerns
Zhao expressed gratitude for the pardon on social media, saying he was “deeply grateful to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.” BNB, Binance’s native token, surged 8% following the announcement.
However, ethics experts have sounded alarms. Norman Eisen, former ethics adviser to President Barack Obama, called Trump’s crypto dealings “the single worst conflict of interest in the modern history of the presidency.”
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Trump for “putting a for sale sign on the White House,” while Robert Reich described the situation as a “Pay-to-Pardon Scheme.”
Trump’s Crypto Evolution
Trump’s embrace of cryptocurrency marks a dramatic reversal. In July 2019, he called cryptocurrencies a scam. In 2021, he told Fox Business that Bitcoin “seems like a scam.”
Since his January 2025 inauguration, Trump has signed multiple pro-crypto executive orders, including establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and creating a US Digital Asset Stockpile. He also disbanded the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and dropped SEC lawsuits against major crypto firms.
The Broader Picture
Trump’s family’s cryptocurrency ventures are valued at approximately $5 billion, making them arguably his most problematic conflict of interest. As the 2026 midterm elections approach, Democrats have signaled plans to scrutinize Trump’s crypto entanglements if they regain congressional control.
The president’s claim of not knowing Zhao—combined with substantial family financial ties to Binance—continues fueling questions about the decision-making process behind the controversial pardon.
Sources: The Guardian, CNN, BBC, The New York Times, CBS News, Reuters
