Is CZ Strengthening His Case for a Trump Pardon?
Former Binance CEO taps into Trump priorities with $2M AI, blockchain scholarship for military families
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: CZ appeals to Trump’s priorities amid pardon bid, government rests in Storm trial, and the biggest headlines this week.
Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, appears to be aligning himself with initiatives close to President Trump’s agenda — potentially strengthening his case for a presidential pardon.
In a newly announced partnership with American Legion Charities, CZ’s philanthropy, Giggle Academy, is donating $2 million to establish a permanent scholarship for the children of fallen and disabled U.S. service members. The program will provide access to blockchain and AI education, offering grants of up to $20,000 and centering on an annual competition that challenges students to answer: “What’s broken, and how would you fix it?”
The announcement comes the same week President Trump doubled down on his AI strategy, launching his AI Action Plan to expand infrastructure and investments across the U.S., adding to his priority to establish America as a global leader in crypto and blockchain technology. Supporting veterans and their families is another key focus for the Trump administration, highlighted by the recent approval of an $832 billion defense funding bill that includes pay raises and enhanced benefits for service members.
Some industry leaders see CZ’s latest move as more than philanthropy or good PR, suggesting it could be a strategic effort to curry favor with the president.
“CZ knows what he’s doing,” said one crypto executive. “It’s hard to be the crypto capital of the world without the biggest exchange and best entrepreneur able to operate here. And as we’ve learned from recent reports, you definitely can’t lead without an able workforce for the future economy.”
Adding to the speculation: This week, CZ topped Polymarket’s leaderboard as the most likely person Trump will pardon in 2025. The narrative gained traction after CZ confirmed on a recent podcast that he had formally applied for a presidential pardon, less than a year after serving a four-month federal sentence for violations related to anti-money laundering laws at Binance.
Government Rests in Roman Storm Case
After eight days of testimony, the government has rested its case in the criminal trial of Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm.
The defense took over Thursday, calling Ethereum developer Preston Van Loon as its first witness. Van Loon described Tornado Cash as a privacy tool he used to protect his identity and secure transactions, emphasizing that the protocol was built to meet a legitimate need for privacy, even if some users exploited it for illicit purposes.
Although Van Loon successfully challenged U.S. Treasury sanctions on Tornado Cash, resulting in the economic sanctions being lifted earlier this year, the defense was barred by Judge Failla from mentioning it in court.
Over the next three days, Storm’s defense team is expected to call several witnesses in an effort to dismantle the government’s portrayal of Storm as a knowing facilitator and promoter of money laundering.
Prosecutors allege Storm and his co-founders knowingly controlled Tornado Cash, made money off it, and failed to take steps to reduce its appeal to bad actors.
He faces charges that could carry up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Want more context on the case? Crypto in America’s Eleanor Terrett joined a panel discussion at PubKey breaking it all down. Check it out here.
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Weekly Recap
ICYMI. Here are some of the biggest news stories this week from the intersection of Washington and Web3:
Bo Hines, Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council, confirmed that the administration’s interagency crypto report will be released on July 30.
DeFi platform Ethena has partnered with Anchorage Digital to issue its USDtb stablecoin in the U.S., using Anchorage’s new stablecoin issuance platform.
Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain, rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock exchange on Thursday, marking TRON’s official public debut following its reverse merger with SRM Entertainment, which is rebranding as Tron Inc.
Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace’s Veterans Affairs Distributed Ledger Technology Act, which aims to modernize the VA through blockchain innovation, passed out of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
The Senate Banking Committee released its market discussion draft and is seeking public feedback from stakeholders.
Coinbase entered into a strategic partnership with PNC Bank to offer crypto-as-a-service to its customers. PNC will provide select banking services to Coinbase customers.
The FBI dropped its criminal probe into Kraken founder Jesse Powell over allegations that he hacked a nonprofit he helped found in 2008.
The SEC approved the conversion of Bitwise’s BITW fund (containing ten cryptos including BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and others) into an ETF, but the order has been stayed and its effective date delayed.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is working to reschedule the vote to advance CFTC Chair nominee Brian Quintenz after postponing Monday’s vote because one GOP member was absent.
Telegram launched its built-in TON Wallet, allowing its 87 million U.S. users to perform self-custodial crypto transactions, access DeFi, and use off-ramp features within the app.
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