Trump ‘terribly advised’ on crypto billionaire pardon: Key supporter

by Julia Shapero - 10/24/25 11:09 AM ET

Venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, a key supporter of President Trump, suggested Thursday that the president was “terribly advised” on his decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

“I love President Trump; this is possibly the greatest admin of my lifetime — except for these pardons,” Lonsdale wrote Thursday in a post on social platform X, just hours after Trump issued Zhao clemency.

“If I’m calling balls and strikes, these are hit-by-pitches!! POTUS has been terribly advised on this; it makes it look like massive fraud is happening around him in this area,” he added.

Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and ultimately served a four-month prison sentence. Binance paid $4.3 billion to settle various related charges with the Justice Department.

The White House, in announcing Zhao’s pardon, suggested he was “prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”

The move immediately faced backlash from those who underscored Binance’s recent dealings with World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture launched last year by Trump and his sons. In May, the Emirati investment firm MGX invested $2 billion in Binance using the crypto firm’s new stablecoins.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution Friday to condemn Zhao’s pardon, calling on Congress “to use its authority to stop this form of corruption.”

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“President Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is just the latest example of the president’s use of the pardon power as a means of rewarding wealthy donors and allies, and enriching himself,” Schiff said in a statement. “This latest abuse of power erodes public trust and makes a mockery of equal justice under the law.”

Several of Trump’s other pardons have drawn scrutiny, including his recent decision to commute the sentence of former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) last week. Santos was serving a seven-year prison sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.