Key Notes
- BitGo's Mike Belshe defended CZ, noting that he only pleaded guilty to violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.
- His statement was a response to Sen.
- Elizabeth Warren, who had stated that CZ went to prison for money laundering.
- The US president has pardoned the convicted Binance founder.
Mike Belshe, the CEO of cryptocurrency firm BitGo, was seen on X in the early hours of October 24, defending Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump .
The BitGo C-suite executive clarified to Senator Elizabeth Warren and his followers that CZ did not plead guilty to money laundering.
BitGo CEO Says Binance Founder Was Unjustly Prosecuted
BitGo CEO used his platform to set the record straight about why Changpeng Zhao went to prison, especially after US Senator Elizabeth Warren made a post on X.
The entire conversation started after a Wall Street Journal report noted that CZ recently gained a pardon from President Trump.
US Sen. Elizabeth Warren highlighted the WSJ report, suggesting that CZ had only lobbied for the pardon by financing Trump’s stablecoin.
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. pic.twitter.com/NsWeaJcVeK
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 23, 2025
She claimed that the crypto boss pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and this earned him a four-month prison sentence. In her opinion, getting this pardon is a “kind of corruption” that Congress needs to put an end to.
Belshe told her that she was incorrect to have made such a statement. He stated that CZ only pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program.
You're incorrect, @SenWarren . 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… https://t.co/WmlZnwTCc3
— Mike Belshe (@mikebelshe) October 24, 2025
The BitGo executive believes that the Binance founder was unjustly prosecuted.
“…he’s the only person ever to receive jail time solely for this violation,” Belshe noted.
Binance Founder Seen as Victim of Biden Administration’s “War on Crypto”
On October 23, WSJ reported that President Trump pardoned the Binance founder who was convicted in 2023 for AML failures.
According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Zhao’s case was part of the Biden administration’s “war on cryptocurrency.” Unfortunately, it cost the exchange founder four months in prison .
The pardon is Trump’s way of exercising his constitutional powers to “end politically motivated prosecution against innovators in digital assets.”
On this basis, CZ is cleared of pending legal restrictions limiting his ability to operate in the US and other jurisdictions.
In the meantime, it is not certain if he will return to holding any executive role within the Binance exchange.
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