00:00U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned Sean Peng Shao, the founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, who was sentenced in April last year to four months in prison.
00:12According to a White House statement, Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon from Mr. Shao.
00:20The statement claimed that Shao was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency in, quote, actions that severely damaged the United States reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation.
00:35I don't know him. I don't believe I've ever met him. But I've been told by a lot of support.
00:41He had a lot of support. And they said that what he did is not even a crime.
00:46It wasn't a crime that he was persecuted by the Biden administration.
00:51And so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.
00:55The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had filed 13 charges against Binance and Shao.
01:01Shao pleaded guilty to money laundering and stepped down as Binance CEO in 2023, while his company agreed to pay four million euros to settle related allegations.
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