Binance wants a Trump partnership and a pardon for CZ, report

2025年03月13日

At 9am today, five Wall Street Journal journalists published a claim that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. Their reporting acknowledges CZ’s completion of a four-month prison sentence and claims that unnamed sources familiar with the matter believe CZ has pushed forward with his request despite already serving a sentence.

Although the reporters do not speculate on other misdeeds, a US president has the sole authority to preemptively pardon for crimes for which an individual does not yet have a conviction. Per Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the US Constitution and Supreme Court precedent in Ex parte Garland (1867), the president wields “unlimited” pardoning power applicable to “every offence known to the law,” even “before legal proceedings are taken.”

In addition, Wall Street Journal reporters claim that Binance wants the Trump family or one of its entities, like World Liberty Financial, to invest in Binance. As part of their negotiations, Binance has expressed willingness to move substantial operations into the US.

Binance founder CZ made $12B overnight when Donald Trump won

Read more: Binance founder CZ made over $25 million per day while in prison, report

Within the first hour of the article’s publication, neither CZ nor Binance leaders Yi He or Richard Teng have responded publicly to the rumor of the pardon request.

Onshoring the world’s largest crypto exchange to the US?

Trump has been a vocal advocate for foreign companies relocating offices, plants, and personnel into the US. He has implemented many tariffs on foreign-operated companies and has made onshoring a cornerstone of his administration’s trade policies.

Interestingly, the US government already holds approximately $33 million worth of Binance Chain (BNB) coins. Per a recent Executive Order signed by Trump, those coins may now be part of a newly-formed US Digital Asset Stockpile.

Yesterday, Binance announced crypto’s $2 billion equity investment from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund MGX. Founder CZ boasted that it was the largest crypto-denominated equity investment in history.

Update March 13, 14:45 UTC: Zhao has since posted to X to challenge the reporting, claiming he has “had no discussions of a Binance US deal with … well, anyone” and added that “no felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge.”

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Lawyer wants Hayden Davis arrested, says Milei’s sister is LIBRA “mastermind”

2025年03月13日

An Argentinian lawyer calling for an international arrest warrant against Hayden Davis is claiming that the sister of Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, was the mastermind behind the LIBRA token scandal. 

Attorney Gregorio Dalbon told the Buenes Aires radio station Pagina 12 AM 750 that he thinks Karina Milei is the LIBRA scam “mastermind” and that, “the president is the necessary participant, without whom the scam would never have happened.”

According to Dalbon, both siblings won’t “speak ill” of Hayden Davis as he handles the profits from the “fraud” they allegedly committed together. 

Dalbon claims, “Davis is Milei. End of story. The rest are accomplices, co-authors and cover-ups.”

Read more: What is an Interpol red notice and how does it work?

Last December Davis reportedly sent texts claiming that he can control Argentina’s president through his sister. However, Davis claims he can’t remember sending the texts and called the reports a “politically motivated attack on President Milei.”

Interpol red notice sought for LIBRA co-founder

This week Dalbon asked Argentinian courts to issue an international arrest order, alongside an Interpol red notice, for Hayden Davis and claimed the 28-year-old might flee the US or hide with help from his newfound fortune.

Dalbon said, “[Davis’] central role in the creation and promotion of the $LIBRA cryptocurrency, coupled with the international impact of the case, increases the likelihood that he will take steps to evade justice.”

If an Interpol red notice is approved, the suspect’s details are passed on to the 195 member nations. It’s worth noting that it’s not an immediate arrest warrant, and that any country can choose not to pursue the red notice.

LIBRA co-creator Hayden Davis caught cashing out millions, report

Read more: Influencer accused of LIBRA insider trading flees country over death threats

Crypto analyst Dethective also spotted Davis’ firm Kelsier Ventures cashing out over $1.6 million this month using funds linked to the LIBRA token. He reportedly made $100 million trading the token.

According to a statement from Davis, he is currently hiring new lawyers from the legal firm Waymaker and when that is finalised, his new lawyers will appear in the Comodoro Py court on Davis’ behalf. Davis maintains that he is innocent of any criminal liability.

Dalbon claimed, “Comodoro Py isn’t a place where justice is served, but politics,” and noted that the case is “moving slowly” as two judges fight over who oversees the case. 

Waymaker represented Kraken in a 2023 lawsuit pursued by the Securities and Exchange Commission which was dropped earlier this month.

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Garantex co-founder arrested while on holiday in India, report

2025年03月13日

A co-founder of the Russian crypto exchange Garantex has reportedly been arrested by police in India under the country’s extradition laws, according to TechCrunch.

Kerala State police arrested Aleksej Besciokov at 4pm IST yesterday in the coastal region of Varkala, where he was reportedly holidaying with his family. 

Last week, the US charged Besciokov, who is Garantex’s main technical administrator, with facilitating money laundering for transnational criminal organizations and conspiracy to violate sanctions. In conjunction with Germany and Finland, the US also seized Garantex’s online domains.

Just before this, Tether froze $27 million worth of USDT on the platform, which Garantex called a “war against the Russian crypto market.” According to the US, Garantex has processed at least $96 billion worth of crypto transactions for the past six years. 

Garantex says ‘USDT in Russian wallets under threat’ as Tether freezes $27M

Read more: Russian founder of sanctioned exchange Garantex starts Tether desk

Forensic blockchain analytics company Elliptic claims that Russian elites use the exchange to dodge sanctions while North Korean-backed hackers launder their funds with it. Garantex has also been linked to violent debt gangs, the Kremlin, and Russian-owned oil firms.  

TechCrunch couldn’t confirm if the arrest of Besciokov was due to recently filed US charges and reports only that extradition laws were cited for his arrest. 

The 46-year-old was taken to a local district court and will appear in court on Monday.

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