Binance’s founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has publicly disputed a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report alleging that he provided damning evidence against TRON’s head, Justin Sun, to U.S. prosecutors as part of a plea deal, referencing unnamed sources.
“The WSJ is stretching the truth,” CZ commented on a social media platform, responding to the report. He insinuated, without providing proof, that the article might be a part of a character assassination campaign. “Government informants do not end up in prison. They receive protection…I suspect someone bribed WSJ staff to tarnish my reputation,” he added.
Similarly, Sun dismissed the report, describing CZ as “a mentor and close friend.” He applauded the U.S Department of Justice’s partnership with the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a private collaboration between TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs, committed to halting the unlawful use of Tether’s USDT stablecoin on the TRON blockchain.
After admitting to violating the Bank Secrecy Act due to the lack of an efficient anti-money laundering protocol at Binance, CZ served a four-month sentence. This was a notable decrease from the three-year sentence initially proposed by prosecutors.
Although CZ claims that “government informants do not end up in prison,” this is not always true. For instance, ex-Alameda Research CEO, Caroline Ellison, who pleaded guilty to charges carrying a maximum penalty of 110 years in prison, was eventually given a two-year sentence after testifying against FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried in his criminal trial. Bankman-Fried was subsequently sentenced to 25 years.
The WSJ report also revealed that Binance executives met with Treasury Department officials last month, aiming to eliminate the U.S. monitor overseeing the exchange’s compliance with anti-money laundering regulations.
According to the report, Binance is optimistic about lifting the latter monitorship. The report further claims that Binance is in discussions with the Trump-backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial, to list its new USD1 stablecoin.
The WSJ also previously reported that CZ is seeking a pardon from President Trump, a claim that CZ has also downplayed without outright denying.
Binance’s associated BNB token has seen a slight increase of about 1% in the past 24 hours, as per The Block’s BNB Price page. The SEC and Binance recently requested another 60-day pause in their ongoing legal dispute, separate from the resolved Department of Justice case.
