Founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has for the previous week been locked in a confrontation and threats with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
The forwards and backwards has the senator referring to the cryptocurrency entrepreneur as a “money launderer” and suggesting, “If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption (the pardoning of financial criminals), it owns it.”
In the meantime, a lawyer for Zhao instructed the New York Submit, “Mr. Zhao respectfully immediately requests the retraction of these false statements, both within the resolution and on X,” including, “Mr. Zhao reserves his right to pursue all legal remedies available to address these false statements.”
CZ pleaded responsible to a legal cash laundering cost and was sentenced to jail.
However then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon.
As we speak, he acquired it.
If Congress doesn’t cease this sort of corruption, it owns it. pic.twitter.com/NsWeaJcVeK
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 23, 2025
Is that this actual life?
When Donald Trump pardoned Zhao, who had served a jail time period for failing to take care of an efficient anti-money laundering (AML) program at Binance, Warren took to X and the Senate flooring to name out what gave the impression to be an apparent quid professional quo.
Specifically that Zhao acquired a pardon not as a result of there have been questions on his guilt or that he had proven regret, however slightly as a result of he’d supported Trump’s crypto companies and investments and kindly requested a pardon.
On the Senate flooring, Warren mentioned, “Pardoning convicted crypto billionaires sends a message: If you have money and the right connections, you don’t have to follow the law. You get a special deal after you’ve broken the law.”
However the senator was much less cautious together with her phrases on X, the place she acknowledged that Zhao “pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge” — which isn’t true.
The previous Binance government has now, by way of his authorized workforce, steered that if Warren’s remark isn’t retracted, he’ll sue her for defamation.
Concurrently, the Wall Road Journal is now reporting that Binance “facilitated [a] $2 billion purchase of World Liberty’s stablecoin and built its technology,” whereas “clemency for Changpeng Zhao surprised some in [the Trump] administration.”
Crypto and criminals rally round Zhao
Cryptocurrency executives, enterprise leaders, and advocates have rallied round Zhao, stating that not solely did he not deserve a jail sentence, he completely must take Warren to court docket for defamation. Even convicted monetary criminals are getting in on the motion:
Even convicted monetary criminals are rallying spherical Zhao.
However Warren hasn’t retracted her publish on X and no lawsuits have so far come to mild.
Whereas it’s clear that Warren mischaracterized the character of Zhao’s responsible plea, a declare of defamation is tougher to show in court docket than merely exhibiting {that a} mistake was made.
Certainly, to show {that a} publish is libellous, a plaintiff should show that the assertion was made negligently or with malice and brought about reputational harm to the defendant.
It’s unclear if Warren’s X publish meets this definition.
Nevertheless, what’s correct is {that a} lawsuit in opposition to Warren by Zhao would open him as much as discovery that would go on for months, value hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, and probably drive the Binance founder to offer uncomfortable or embarrassing info that may be shared with the world.
Each Warren and Zhao have an excessive amount of at stake to ever let this confrontation go to trial. As such, what’s almost certainly is that no swimsuit is introduced and the marginally inaccurate publish stays up.
At worst for Warren, she’s pressured to characterize Zhao as somebody who pleaded responsible to failing to take care of a correct anti-money laundering program, not merely a cash launderer.
