Latest news with #ChangpengZhao
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elizabeth Warren has a harsh warning on U.S. economy, gets a scathing response
Elizabeth Warren has a harsh warning on U.S. economy, gets a scathing response originally appeared on TheStreet. While there is hardly any issue that the Republican and Democrat members can agree upon, the debate over crypto-related bills in the House of Representatives has only divided them further. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is among the loudest voices within the Democrat camp who has repeatedly criticized these bills. In a July 16 interview with Bloomberg Television, Warren said the GENIUS and Clarity Acts don't have anything to stop the "Donald Trump corruption." These bills don't put enough safeguards in place to protect consumers and prevent crypto usage by malicious actors such as terrorists and drug traffickers, Warren said. In fact, these bills fail to ensure that crypto isn't used to blow up our entire economy, she added. Warren also warned about a provision of the Clarity Act that she said would allow any company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to escape the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulation by just going digital on a blockchain giants such as Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Meta (Nasdaq: META) could escape regulation by going on-chain, Warren added and warned the value of the NYSE would "blow up" in such a scenario. Changpeng Zhao "CZ," founder of the world's largest crypto exchange Binance, hit back at Senator Warren, wondering if she wants to limit U.S. companies to protect the U.S. "economy / NYSE." CZ underlined that the NYSE is just a company, not the entire U.S. economy. It is all companies that make up the country's economy, he added. Warren questions links between CZ and Trump Sen. Warren said though she would like to see strong crypto regulation, she wouldn't like to see the government sign "weak" regulation that has been "written" by the crypto industry. Earlier, Warren questioned the relationship between the Trump-backed crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, and Binance as its founder, a "convicted felon," has asked for the presidential pardon. CZ pled guilty to money laundering, stepped down as CEO in November 2023, and was sentenced to four months in April 2024. In March, the WSJ reported that the representatives of the Trump family held talks to acquire a stake in Binance's U.S. arm — a claim CZ denied. In May, Warren, as part of a group of Democrat senators, asked to investigate the links between the Trump family-backed USD1 stablecoin and Binance. Elizabeth Warren has a harsh warning on U.S. economy, gets a scathing response first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 17, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 17, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elizabeth Warren Says 'Convicted Felon' Leveraged Trump Family's Crypto Interests For Pardon: Senator Makes Scathing Comments On Binance Co-Founder
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned a potential quid pro quo involving the Trump family's cryptocurrency ventures and Binance's (CRYPTO: BNB) convicted ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao. What Happened: In an X post, Warren cited a recent report that claimed Binance covertly helped President Donald Trump-backed cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial develop the USD1 stablecoin. 'One of the Trump family's crypto ventures got behind-the-scenes help from the world's largest crypto exchange,' Warren said. 'Its founder? A convicted felon now seeking a Trump pardon.' Trending: GoSun's Breakthrough Rooftop EV Charger Already Has 2,000+ Units Reserved — Warren was referring to Zhao, who was sentenced for anti-money laundering violations in the U.S. Zhou paid a $50 million fine, stepped down from the company and subsequently served four months in senior Democrat, who has been fighting hard to convince lawmakers to take notice of Trump's cryptocurrency activities, urged Congress to address this issue before passing bills that would enable him to profit more. Benzinga reached out to Binance and the White House for a comment. The story will be updated once they It Matters: The report suggested that Binance allegedly helped write the core code for the dollar-pegged stablecoin USD1, and the code facilitated an Emirati investment firm to acquire a $2 billion stake in Binance using USD1. Zhao called the report a hit piece and was contemplating a defamation had deemed the deal 'shady' and a national security risk, accusing Trump of profiting from foreign cryptocurrency agreements. She urged Congress to vote against the GENIUS Act, also known as the stablecoin bill, because it would enable Trump's 'crypto corruption.' The bill eventually passed the Senate Trump reported incomes exceeding $57 million from World Liberty Financial in his latest disclosure. Read Next: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — And You Can Invest At Just $6.37/Share Bezos' Favorite Real Estate Platform Launches A Way To Ride The Ongoing Private Credit Boom Credit: Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Elizabeth Warren Says 'Convicted Felon' Leveraged Trump Family's Crypto Interests For Pardon: Senator Makes Scathing Comments On Binance Co-Founder originally appeared on Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Bitcoin's Biggest Billionaire Winners
getty B itcoin is soaring to the moon, with the cryptocurrency posting a new all-time high on Monday of $122,838, nearly a 100% increase since July of last year. For a brief time, Bitcoin's market cap was upwards of $2.4 trillion, surpassing Amazon as the fifth most valuable asset in the world. The frenzy comes as investors eagerly await the outcome of what the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services calls 'Crypto Week.' Three bills being considered in the House of Representatives would help establish a regulatory framework and help integrate cryptocurrencies into traditional finance: the CLARITY Act, Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act and the GENIUS Act. 'These pieces of legislation further the President's pro-growth and pro-business agenda, and provide a clear regulatory framework for digital assets,' according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. All this anticipation has helped produce outsized returns for BTC holders, with the coin's price far outpacing even the broader market, itself near record highs and up nearly 12% from a year ago. Here are a few of the biggest billionaire winners, including the largest holders of Bitcoin based on Forbes billionaire ranks, over the last year according to Forbes ' estimates. One person not among the gainers is Crypto's richest person Changpeng Zhao, whose fortune comes from his cryptocurrency exchange Binance but does not appear to own much Bitcoin. No one would be richer or gain more from Bitcoin's rise than its mysterious founder, Satoshi Nakamoto—if s/he really exists and is really one living person. With estimated holdings of up to 1.1 million Bitcoins, Satoshi's stash could now be worth more than $135 billion thanks to Bitcoin's all-time high. That would be good enough to make Satoshi the 11th-wealthiest person in the world, $10 billion richer than computer billionaire Michael Dell and just $7 billion poorer than Warren Buffett. But the problem is that no one has been able to definitively prove the identity of Satoshi, who authored Bitcoin's white paper in 2008 before handing it off to the community and has never sold a token since. The pseudonymous person or possible team of people behind Satoshi Nakamoto left the stage more than a decade ago. That has not stopped many from trying to reveal the true identity in what has become one of the greatest unsolved mysteries. It's also impossible to determine an exact accounting of Satoshi's bitcoin addresses or total holdings since the network, too, is pseudonymous (Forbes previously reported estimates range between 600,000 and 1.1 million tokens). For those reasons, Forbes has yet to place Satoshi on the billionaires list, even as all those zeroes keep piling up. Jamel Toppin for Forbes Few are as bullish about Bitcoin as Saylor, who has made heavy investments in the coins through his publicly traded software firm MicroStrategy and his personal accounts. Microstrategy (market capitalization: $127 billion) owns 601,550 BTC, worth nearly $74 billion on Monday. That includes an additional 4,225 BTC bought at an average price of $111,827 per token from July 7th to July 13th, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In 2020, Saylor divulged that he personally held 17,732 BTC, purchased for some $175 million at an average price of $9,882. That stash would now be worth more than $2 billion. Brian Armstrong | $16.4 bil | + $5.2 bil The CEO of Coinbase, Armstrong has been consistently selling stock through 2025 using an automated trading program, but still owns roughly 19% of the company he cofounded, helping him indirectly profit from the rise in Bitcoin's price like Ehrsam. Michael Prince for Forbes Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss | $4.2 bil each | +$3.7 bil each The Winklevoss twins hold an estimated 28,288 BTC, now worth roughly $3.5 billion. Famous for alleging Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook, the twins donated 15.47 Bitcoin apiece, worth $1 million each at the time, to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, citing issues with the Biden administration's approach toward cryptocurrency in a June 2024 post on X by Tyler Winklevoss. Mike Novogratz | $4.9 bil | +$2.4 bil Novogratz is an early Bitcoin investor and the founder, CEO and majority shareholder of Galaxy Digital Holdings, a crypto investment firm that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange. He first bought Bitcoin in 2013, and has invested in a wide variety of startups and tokens within the cryptocurrency industry. Fred Ehrsam | $4.2 bil | +$1.1 bil Cofounder of Coinbase Global, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Ehrsam left the company in 2017 to found Paradigm, a cryptocurrency investment firm with more than $8 billion in assets. He remains on the board of Coinbase, and owns 4% of the shares, which trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and are up 81% over the past year—buoyed in part by Coinbase's corporate reserves of 51,017.36 BTC, worth $6.3 billion at Monday's all-time high price. Getty Images Tim Draper | $3.6 bil | +$1.6 bil Draper is a founding partner of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson and an early Bitcoin investor. In 2014, he bought 29,656 bitcoins which were confiscated by U.S. Marshalls from the Silk Road black market; they're now worth over $3.6 billion.
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Crypto cold war heats up: As Pakistan, Bhutan, and US go all in, where does India stand? Report reveals how the world is weaponising blockchain
In the evolving battle for digital dominance, cryptocurrency has emerged as more than just a financial experiment, it is now a tool of diplomacy, economic survival, and geopolitical manoeuvring. According to an ET report, countries from Pakistan to Bhutan, the US to the UAE, are embedding crypto into their national strategies. But amid this global pivot, India remains cautious, caught in a regulatory limbo that experts say is increasingly risky. Pakistan's crypto push: Strategic ties and suspicious timing Weeks before the Pahalgam terror attack, Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, agreed to advise the newly-formed Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC). In July, President Asif Ali Zardari signed an ordinance setting up the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA), allowing the country to license and regulate crypto entities. The move coincides with Pakistan's deepening ties to World Liberty Financial (WLF), a Trump-linked crypto firm. As ET notes, Pakistan is using crypto not just to attract investment but to gain currency with Washington. This could explain the US's relatively muted stance on Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. 'Crypto is becoming a channel for strategic financial flows for Pakistan,' Anirudh Suri of India Internet Fund told ET. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like นี่อาจเป็นโอกาสทองที่ดีที่สุดในรอบ 5 ปีสำหรับการเทรดทองคำ IC Markets อ่านเพิ่มเติม Undo He warns that this strategy poses a threat to India's attempts to cut off terror financing through global agencies like FATF and IMF. India's position: Still undecided, still unclear Despite multiple reminders from the Supreme Court, India is yet to clarify its stance on cryptocurrency. In a hearing in May, the apex court asked why the Centre had not produced a clear policy. The Reserve Bank of India remains sceptical, citing concerns over monetary stability, while SEBI has reportedly suggested multi-agency oversight. As ET highlights, India currently levies a 30% tax on crypto gains and 1% TDS on larger transactions, while exchanges are required to register with FIU-IND. Yet, a promised discussion paper outlining a national crypto framework, expected in June, is still awaited. Meanwhile, the use of crypto in terror financing is reportedly on the rise. Following the Pahalgam attack, FIU instructed exchanges to monitor transactions from Jammu and Kashmir, specifically scrutinizing private wallets and privacy coins, ET reported. Bhutan's bitcoin reserves: Small state, bold bet While Pakistan's crypto strategy raises alarms, Bhutan presents a very different model. As per ET, the Himalayan kingdom has mined over $1.3 billion worth of bitcoin, nearly 40% of its GDP, using surplus hydropower. Bitcoin now supports Bhutan's public spending, tourism projects, and even salary hikes for civil servants. Although India supports Bhutan's economic diversification, ET notes concerns about reduced hydropower exports and the country's increasing reliance on Chinese bitcoin mining gear. Companies like Adani are exploring data center opportunities there, which could shape bilateral ties going forward. Trump, stablecoins and the blurred lines of power In the US, the GENIUS (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins) Act is set for a vote. It aims to regulate stablecoins like USD1, launched by Trump's firm, World Liberty Financial. According to ET, Trump earned $57.4 million in 2024 from this venture, sparking allegations that the act could enable political favours for investors. An Abu Dhabi-based fund has already pledged $2 billion in USD1 for Binance. Experts quoted by ET worry that countries like Pakistan may exploit these loopholes to regain favour with the US. Subimal Bhattacharjee, a cybersecurity expert, warns this could undermine global financial norms under the cover of policy. What India must do - before it falls behind Experts say India must act quickly. 'Crypto doesn't really listen to borders,' Ananya Kumar of the Atlantic Council told ET. 'It's not a domestic issue, it's a global one.' Jaideep Reddy of Trilegal added that crypto lacks legal clarity under India's securities, foreign exchange, and tax laws, creating confusion for both businesses and consumers. ET also highlights concerns over capital flight via dollar-backed stablecoins. Regulating such flows while enabling legitimate innovation is critical, say experts. As the Supreme Court presses for answers and neighbours surge ahead with defined policies, India faces a stark choice: lead with a robust, transparent crypto strategy, or risk being outpaced and outflanked in the new digital order. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Giant Accused of Secretly Helping Trump Company Before Founder Pushed for Pardon
Crypto giant Binance helped create and promote the Trump family's stablecoin just months before its founder applied for a presidential pardon, according to a new report. President Donald Trump once called Bitcoin a 'scam' but has since embraced cryptocurrency, saying he wants to make the U.S. the 'crypto capital of the world.' His sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. launched a crypto company called World Liberty Financial last year and released their stablecoin USD1—which is pegged to the U.S dollar—in March. It turns out, though, that the basic code that powers USD1 was secretly written by Binance, the crypto exchange founded by Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao, who is seeking a presidential pardon, sources told Bloomberg. That code allowed an Emirati investment firm to buy a $2 billion stake in Binance using USD1 instead of a competitor coin, according to Bloomberg. Binance also promoted USD1 to its 275 million users. Around the same time that USD1 was released, Binance and World Liberty denied reports that they were in talks to develop a new stablecoin. It's not clear whether World Liberty paid Binance or Zhao to create the coin, Bloomberg reported. The assets backing the $2 billion in USD1 currently sitting in Binance wallets could generate tens of millions of dollars per year for the Trumps in interest income alone, according to the outlet. Regulatory filings by another stablecoin issuer, Circle Internet Group Inc., also offer some insight into the market value of World Liberty Financial's relationship with Binance. Circle paid Binance $60 million up front to promote its coin and agreed to share future revenue with the exchange. In 2023, Zhao and Binance were accused of violating federal U.S. laws designed to prevent money laundering. Both pled guilty, and Zhao paid a $50 million fine and stepped down from the company, which also paid $4.3 billion in fines. Zhao was also sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to felony money laundering charges. In March he denied seeking a pardon from the Trump administration, only to say in May that he had applied for one after all. A spokesperson for Binance told Bloomberg that Zhao was no longer with the company and that his decision to apply for a pardon was 'a personal one.' A White House spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg. The Daily Beast has also requested comment. A World Liberty spokesperson told the outlet that the report's claims were 'factually deficient and designed to further a political agenda,' though she declined to respond to specific questions and set the record straight. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
