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CZ claps back against ‘baseless’ US plea deal allegations
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, former CEO of Binance, has denied claims that he agreed to provide evidence against Tron founder Justin Sun as part of a plea deal with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
In an April 11 report, The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources alleging that CZ had agreed to testify against Sun under the terms of his settlement with US prosecutors.
“As part of Zhao’s plea deal, he agreed to give evidence on Sun to prosecutors,” an “arrangement” that “hasn’t previously been reported,” the WSJ report stated, citing sources familiar with the matter.
“WSJ is really TRYING here. They seem to have forgotten who went to prison and who didn’t,” Zhao wrote in an April 12 X post. “People who become gov witnesses don’t go to prison. They are protected. I heard someone paid WSJ employees to smear me.”
Source: Changpeng Zhao
CZ was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations. He walked free from federal prison on Sept. 27 as the wealthiest person to ever serve a US prison sentence, with a $60 billion net worth at the time.
In a separate April 11 post, CZ claimed multiple individuals had warned him about the Journal’s intentions to publish what he described as a “hit piece.”
Source: Justin Sun
Sun said he was “not aware of the circulation rumors,” calling CZ his “mentor and close friend,” Cointelegraph reported on April 11.
Related: Trump kills DeFi broker rule in major crypto win: Finance Redefined
“Some players are lobbying against us again in the US” — CZ
CZ further speculated that the report could be linked to lobbying efforts against him and his former company.
“I also heard some rumors about some players ‘lobbying’ against us again in the US,” CZ said.
Cointelegraph has approached CZ for more details on the lobbying claims.
In November 2023, Zhao said that “FTX sought regulatory ‘crack down’ on Binance to increase market share,” citing a Federal Newswire report.
Related: New York bill proposes legalizing Bitcoin, crypto for state payments
Zhao’s comments come over a month after crypto donations raised influence concerns among industry participants.
Crypto firms spent over $134 million on the 2024 US elections in “unchecked political spending,” which presents some critical challenges, Cointelegraph reported on March 10.
Fairshake donations. Source: politicalaccountability.net
“While the companies making these contributions may be seeking a favorable regulatory environment, these political donations further erode public trust and expose companies to legal, reputational, and business risks that cannot be ignored,” according to a March 7 report by the Center for Political Accountability (CPA).
Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set
Local governments in China are reportedly seeking ways to offload seized crypto while facing challenges due to the country’s ban on crypto trading and exchanges. The lack of rules around how authorities should handle seized crypto has spawned “inconsistent and opaque approaches” that some fear could foster corruption, lawyers told Reuters for an April 16 report. Chinese local governments are using private companies to sell seized cryptocurrencies in offshore markets in exchange for cash to replenish public coffers, Reuters reported, citing transaction and court documents. The local governments reportedly held approximately 15,000 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $1.4 billion at the end of 2023, and the sales have been a significant source of income. China holds an estimated 194,000 BTC worth approximately $16 billion and is the second largest nation Bitcoin holder behind the US, according to Bitbo. Zhongnan University of Economics and Law professor Chen Shi told Reuters that these sales are a “makeshift solution that, strictly speaking, is not fully in line with China’s current ban on crypto trading.” Countries and governments that hold BTC. Source: Bitbo The issue has been exacerbated by a rise in crypto-related crime in China, ranging from online fraud to money laundering to illegal gambling. Additionally, the state sued more than 3,000 people involved in crypto-related money laundering in 2024. Shenzhen-based lawyer Guo Zhihao opined that the central bank is better positioned to deal with seized digital assets and should either sell them overseas or build a crypto reserve. Ru Haiyang, co-CEO at Hong Kong crypto exchange HashKey, echoed the suggestion saying that China may want to keep forfeited Bitcoin as a strategic reserve as US President Donald Trump is doing. Related: Bitcoin rebounds as traders spot China ‘weaker yuan’ chart, but US trade war caps $80K BTC rally Creating a crypto sovereign fund in Hong Kong, where crypto trading is legal, has also been proposed. This issue has gained attention amid rising US-China trade tensions and Trump’s plans to regulate stablecoins and foster growth and innovation in the crypto industry. Several industry observers have suggested that China’s tariff response could result in a devaluation of the local currency, which may result in a flight to crypto. Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express CleanSpark will start selling a portion of the Bitcoin earned from its mining operations each month in a bid to become financially self-sufficient, the US Bitcoin miner said on April 15. In addition, CleanSpark secured a $200 million credit facility backed by Bitcoin (BTC) through an agreement with Coinbase Prime, the institutional brokerage division of the crypto exchange, according to a statement. Together, the Bitcoin sales and credit line mean CleanSpark has “achieved escape velocity — the ability to self-fund operations, augment our bitcoin treasury, and contribute to expansion capital through operational cash flow,” Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, said. CleanSpark has opened an institutional Bitcoin trading desk to facilitate the cryptocurrency sales, it added. Crypto mining stocks are down sharply in 2025. Source: Morningstar Related: Bitdeer turns to self-mining Bitcoin, US operations amid tariff tumult — Report The Bitcoin miner’s emphasis on self-funding comes as mining stocks reel from across-the-board selloffs in the first quarter of 2025. Shares of CoinShares Crypto Miners ETF (WGMI) — a publicly traded fund tracking a diverse basket of Bitcoin mining stocks — are down more than 40% since the start of the year, according to data from Morningstar. “[W]e believe this is the right time to evolve from a nearly 100% hold strategy adopted in mid-2023 and move back using a portion of our monthly production to support operations,” Bradford said. Cheaper stock prices effectively increase Bitcoin miners’ cost of capital and can potentially cause creditors to demand faster loan repayments. Analysts at JP Morgan attributed the downturn to eroding cryptocurrency prices, which added pressure to business models already strained by the Bitcoin network’s April 2024 halving. Halvings occur roughly every four years when the Bitcoin network automatically cuts mining rewards in half. Price per Bitcoin versus network hashrate. Source: JPMorgan In April, pressure on mining stocks worsened when US President Donald Trump announced plans for sweeping tariffs on US imports. US Bitcoin miners are especially vulnerable to trade wars because they rely on specialized mining hardware, often sourced from foreign manufacturers. Bradford said he expects CleanSpark’s financial self-sufficiency to differentiate it from peers “who continue to rely on equity dilution to fund operating costs or increased leverage to grow their Bitcoin reserves.” Other miners are taking similarly aggressive measures to adapt to the changing market. Bitdeer, a Singapore-based crypto miner, has reportedly touted plans to start manufacturing mining hardware in the United States to mitigate the impact of Trump’s planned import tariffs. Magazine: Illegal arcade disguised as … a fake Bitcoin mine? Soldier scams in China: Asia Express The crypto industry’s inability to access banking services still concerns many industry observers despite recent policy victories. In past years, financial services firms and banks concerned about fiduciary risk, reporting liabilities and reputational risk often would refuse to offer service to crypto firms — i.e., “debanking” them. Legislative efforts in the United States and Australia are attempting to remove these barriers for the crypto industry. In the former, legislators repealed guidelines that made it difficult for banks to custody crypto assets, as well as those stating that crypto carried “reputational risk” for banks. In the latter, the Labor Party has introduced a bill to create a legal framework for crypto, giving banks the clarity they need to interact with the crypto industry. Despite these tangible efforts, some crypto industry observers say that the crypto’s debanking problem is far from over. The crypto industry has long decried “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” its nickname for a suite of policies that they claim constrained the crypto industry from growing under the administration of former President Joe Biden. Among these were measures making it more difficult for crypto firms to access banking services. The early days of the second administration of President Donald Trump have seen many of these repealed or changed. One of the first was the repeal of Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which required banks offering custody for customers’ cryptocurrencies to list them as liabilities on their balance sheets — this made it very difficult for banks to justify offering such services. The administration also appointed a new head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Rodney Hood. Dennis Porter, CEO of the Bitcoin-focused policy organization Satoshi Action, told Cointelegraph that under Hood’s tenure, the OCC has already said banks can offer crypto-related services like custody, stablecoin reserves and blockchain participation. Related: Atkins becomes next SEC chair: What’s next for the crypto industry “This opens the door for broader adoption of digital asset technology and custodial services by traditional financial institutions, signaling a major shift in how banks engage with crypto,” he said. Despite these victories, Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, said on March 21 that debanking is likely to remain a problem for crypto firms into 2026. Long said the non-partisan board of governors of the Federal Reserve is “still controlled by Democrats,” alluding to Democrats’ more skeptical stance on crypto. Long claimed that “there are two crypto-friendly banks under examination by the Fed right now, and an army of examiners was sent into these banks, including the examiners from Washington, a literal army just smothering the banks.” Long noted that Trump won’t be able to appoint a new Fed governor until January, meaning that, while other agencies may be more crypto-friendly, there are still roadblocks. Stand With Crypto, the “grassroots” crypto advocacy organization started by Coinbase that has spread to the US, UK, Canada and Australia, said that “in Australia, debanking is quietly shutting out innovators and entrepreneurs — particularly in the crypto and blockchain space.” In a post on X, the organization claimed that debanking results in “reputational damage, loss of revenue, increased operational costs, and inability to launch or sustain services.” It also claimed that it forces some companies to move offshore. In response to these concerns, the ruling center-left Labor Party in Australia has proposed a new set of laws for the cryptocurrency industry. The changes to current financial services law seek to tackle the issue of debanking in the country’s cryptocurrency industry. Australia’s Treasury says its new crypto regulations have four priorities. Source: Australian Department of the Treasury Edward Carroll, head of global markets and corporate finance at MHC Digital Group — an Australian crypto platform — told Cointelegraph that in Australia, debanking decisions were “not the result of regulatory directives.” “Rather, they appear to stem from a more general sense of risk aversion due to the current lack of a clear regulatory framework.” Related: US gov’t actions give clue about upcoming crypto regulation Carroll was optimistic about the Labor Party’s proactive stance. The major political parties were “showing a shift in sentiment and a shared commitment to establishing formal crypto regulation.” “We are hopeful that this will give banks the confidence to reengage with crypto businesses that meet compliance standards,” he said. In Canada, “debanking remains a serious and ongoing challenge for the Canadian crypto industry,” according to Morva Rohani, executive director of the Canadian Web3 Council. “While some firms have successfully established relationships with banking partners, many continue to face account closures or denials with little explanation or recourse,” she told Cointelegraph. While debanking actions aren’t explicit, financial institutions’ interpretation of Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations “creates a risk-averse environment where banks weigh compliance and reputational concerns against the relatively low revenue potential of crypto clients.” The end result, per Rohani, is a systemic debanking problem for the digital assets industry. But unlike in the US and Australia, the Canadian crypto industry may not find relief anytime soon. Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose more crypto-skeptic Liberal Party is surging in the polls ahead of the April 28 snap elections, is himself a crypto-skeptic. Polls show Carney firmly in the lead. Source: Ipsos Carney has stated that the future of money lies more in a “central bank stablecoin,” otherwise referred to as a central bank digital currency. Rohani said that “no comprehensive legislative solution has been implemented” as regards to debanking. “A more structured approach, including mandated disclosure of reasons for account termination and regulatory oversight, is needed,” she said. There is another side to the debanking debate, which claims that crypto’s debanking “problem” is a non-issue or a vehicle for crypto firms to get what they want in terms of regulation. Molly White, the author of Web3 Is Going Just Great and the “Citation Needed” newsletter, has noted that, in the US at least, crypto firms have claimed to be victims of debanking while lauding Trump’s efforts to end protections for debanking at the same time. In a Feb. 14 post, White stated that the crypto industry had “hijacked” the discussion around debanking, which contains legitimate concerns regarding access to financial services — particularly regarding discrimination due to race, religious identity or industry affiliation. She claims the crypto industry has used debanking as a means to deflect legitimate regulatory inquiries into crypto companies’ compliance efforts. Further of note is the fact that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has applauded the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Elon Musk at the helm, to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). One of the CFPB’s responsibilities is to investigate claims of debanking. But when DOGE instructed the agency to halt all work, Armstrong said it was “100% the right call,” in addition to making dubious claims about the agency’s constitutionality. Whether the industry’s debanking concerns stem from legitimate discrimination or an attempt at regulatory capture, crypto firms are developing solutions in the interim. Porter said that, as an alternative to banking services, “many crypto companies have leaned on stablecoins as a primary tool for managing finances,” while others have worked with “smaller regional banks or specialized trust companies open to digital assets.” Rohani said that this kind of “patchwork of relationships” can increase operational costs and risks and are “not sustainable long-term solutions for growth or to build a competitive, regulated industry.” Porter concluded that the banking workarounds could actually strengthen the industry’s position, stating that they may “continue evolving into fully integrated relationships with traditional financial institutions, further cementing crypto’s place in mainstream finance.” Magazine: UK’s Orwellian AI murder prediction system, will AI take your job? AI Eye Arthur Hayes, Murad’s Prediction For Meme Coins, AI & DeFi Coins For 2025 Expert Sees Bitcoin Dipping To $50K While Bullish Signs Persist Aptos Leverages Chainlink To Enhance Scalability and Data Access Bitcoin Could Rally to $80,000 on the Eve of US Elections Crypto’s Big Trump Gamble Is Risky Sonic Now ‘Golden Standard’ of Layer-2s After Scaling Transactions to 16,000+ per Second, Says Andre Cronje Institutional Investors Go All In on Crypto as 57% Plan to Boost Allocations as Bull Run Heats Up, Sygnum Survey Reveals Ripple-SEC Case Ends, But These 3 Rivals Could Jump 500x
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China crypto reserve floated as solution
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Navigating market volatility
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US crypto execs say debanking is still an issue
Australia’s Labor Party to create crypto framework
Canada unlikely to relieve crypto firms
Critics claim crypto is “hijacking” the debanking issue
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