During the latest crash that hit the cryptocurrency market, a trader emerged with a position that was strangely precise. He’s just made headlines again following an open bet on Polymarket regarding a presidential pardon for Changpeng Zhao—a pardon that is clearly not universally supported.
A winning bet on Changpeng Zhao’s pardon
The cryptocurrency market is often singled out for instances of market manipulation or insider trading. This reality has been thrust back into the spotlight since Donald Trump took office, as his numerous crypto-related activities inevitably raise questions about potential conflicts of interest.
This situation quickly brought to light an $80 million short position opened in early October on the decentralized platform Hyperliquid, shortly before the market crashed following an announcement by Donald Trump regarding his tariff policy. The result: approximately $200 million in profits in 24 hours.
Suspicions quickly fell on a certain Garrett Jin, former founder of the cryptocurrency exchange BitForex. He was also identified as the holder of the “bigwinner01” account on the Polymarket prediction market platform, with a single position estimated at $85,000 on the imminent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Open position on the Polymarket platform by the ‘bigwinner01’ account
A bet won yesterday with an estimated profit of approximately $56,500, following the official announcement of this presidential pardon. This has reignited suspicions of another case of insider trading, even though some observers are quick to point out that the profit seems rather meager compared to the $200 million pocketed on October 11.
A pardon that is clearly not universally accepted
A new scandal that will do nothing to calm the anger of Senate Democrats, who are unanimously condemning this presidential pardon, which they characterize as blatant “corruption.”
This provided Senator Elizabeth Warren with an opportunity to highlight the recent support provided by Changpeng Zhao in the development of World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, one of Donald Trump’s crypto companies.
First, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of money laundering. Second, he supported one of Donald Trump’s crypto companies and lobbied for a pardon. Today, Donald Trump did his part and pardoned him. If Congress does not put an end to this kind of corruption in the pending market structure legislation, it will become complicit in this illegality.
Even Joe Lonsdale, one of Donald Trump’s most ardent—and wealthiest—supporters, expressed his opposition to this presidential pardon yesterday in a post on X, stating that “it gives the impression that massive fraud is taking place around him in this area.” This scathing criticism, coming from within the MAGA circle itself, surely masks others who have remained silent.
