CZ downplays WSJ claim that he provided evidence against Justin Sun as part of plea deal

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has downplayed a report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that he provided evidence against TRON founder Justin Sun to U.S. prosecutors as part of his plea deal, citing people familiar with the case. 

“WSJ is really TRYING here,” CZ wrote in a post on X referencing the claim and asserted, without evidence, that the article may be part of a smear campaign. “People who become gov witnesses don’t go to prison. They are protected…I heard someone paid WSJ employees to smear me.” 

Sun also downplayed the report, calling CZ “my mentor and a close friend” and praising the U.S. Department of Justice’s collaboration with the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a private partnership between TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs aimed at combatting the illicit use of Tether’s USDT stablecoin on the TRON blockchain. 

CZ served four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by not implementing an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance. The four-month sentence was a significant reduction from the three years prosecutors originally sought. “”While the DOJ just didn’t have enough goods on CZ to warrant three years, I can’t believe CZ is getting four months and not 18 months,” Managing Director at Swan Bitcoin Terrence Yang said in a statement when the sentence was announced. 

Despite CZ’s assertion that “people who become [government] witnesses don’t go to prison,” that isn’t always the case. For example, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, who plead guilty to charges carrying a maximum penalty of 110 years in prison, was eventually sentenced to just two years following her testimony against FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried in his criminal trial, after which he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. 

WSJ says Binance seeks looser oversight, may list USD1

The WSJ report also said Binance executives met last month with officials from the Treasury Department, seeking to remove the U.S. monitor that oversees the exchange’s compliance with anti-money laundering laws.

Two monitors were established following Binance’s settlement with the Justice Department: a 3-year monitorship from FRA, appointed by the DOJ, and a 5-year monitorship by Sullivan & Cromwell partner Sharon Cohen Levin, appointed by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). According to the report, Binance is seeking to lift the latter monitorship. 

“Binance executives are optimistic the Trump administration will acquiesce,” the WSJ report states. 

The report also alleges that Binance has been in talks with Trump-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial to list its new USD1 stablecoin. The stablecoin will be 100% backed by short-term U.S. government treasury, U.S. dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents, the project said. 

The WSJ also previously reported that CZ is seeking a pardon from President Trump, a claim which CZ similarly downplayed without outright denying. “No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in U.S. history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge,” CZ wrote. 

Trump has pardoned several figures associated with the cryptocurrency industry, such as Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and BitMEX’s co-founders, including Arthur Hayes. Sam Bankman-Fried is seemingly lobbying the Trump administration for a pardon as well. 

The price of the BNB token associated with Binance is up about 1% in the past 24 hours, according to The Block’s BNB Price page. The SEC and Binance recently filed a joint request for another 60-day pause in their ongoing legal dispute, which is separate from the settled Department of Justice case. 

Binance and the authors of the WSJ piece did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Block. 

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.