If you’re tuned into the crypto scene, you’ll know all about Binance and its boss CZ, (Changpeng Zhao), who did four months inside on flimsy AML charges. This comes right after Trump pardoned Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht(aka Dread Pirate Roberts)
Ulbricht got arrested in 2013, convicted in 2015 for drug trafficking, money laundering, and hacking conspiracy for running Silk Road. That Bitcoin-powered dark web shop raked in over $200 million flogging everything from weed to heroin, plus hacker gear and fake IDs. Life without parole? Seems extreme and harsher than sentences for proper cartel kingpins, and many called it government overreach.
Against that CZ’s pardon feels like justice done. He copped a guilty plea in 2023 for weak anti-money laundering controls under the Bank Secrecy Act, letting dodgy funds slip through. He paid a $50 million fine, Binance shelled out $4.3 billion, and he served four months in jail, released early for good behaviour.
Overreach seems to be the word to define it, especially when banks get off lightly for worse. Trump’s pardon on 23 October 2025 shows the Trump Administration’s Pro Crypto, Pro Bitcoin stance.
Take HSBC in 2012: caught red-handed letting Mexican and Colombian drug cartels launder $881 million through US branches from 2006 to 2010. We’re talking suitcases of cash, shifty wires, and fake firms like “Cactus Loving.” They ignored suspicious activity reports and sanctions completely. Penalty? A “peppercorn” $1.9 billion fine and a deferred prosecution deal, promise not to do it again, no jail time for anyone. Just a peppermint slap for a banking giant.
Then there’s Standard Chartered, fined $1.1 billion in 2019 for AML screw-ups. They processed dodgy deals tied to Iran, Burma, Libya, and Sudan, bypassing checks on high-risk clients. No prosecutions, just a fine and “business as usual”
Or look at TD Bank, Canada’s second-biggest lender, pleading guilty in 2024 to BSA violations. Three crime rings laundered $670 million through their US branches with unchecked transfers and fake accounts. A hefty $3.09 billion fine, but no one saw a cell.
The pattern’s clear as day: banks have racked up $46 billion in AML fines since 2000, but it’s all cash, no cuffs. Meanwhile, CZ gets locked up for less?
So it may not be surprising that the 45th – 47th President of the United States Donald J. Trump who was de-banked famously, saw Cz case come across his desk, saw great hypocrisy and chose to pardon the Crypto era entrepreneur who had the vision and grit to stand behind Bitcoin before it was mainstream.
Creating a great ally In his push to make America the Crypto Capital of the world with Cz who already advises the Government of Pakistan saying the following on X: “Deeply grateful… Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto.” You could say Trump “killed two birds with one stone” , wrote a Biden Administration wrong and gained an ally in the crypto race, now that’s manoeuvring to be admired.