Trader who made $190M shorting crash also apparently bet on CZ's pardon

A mysterious cryptocurrency trader who previously netted $190 million shorting the crypto market crash has reportedly placed strategic bets on former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao receiving a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. This high-stakes prediction market play has sparked intense debate within the blockchain community about potential insider trading in the cryptocurrency space.

Onchain analysts tracking the trader's wallet activities discovered betting positions suggesting advance knowledge of Trump's clemency decision for CZ, who faced federal charges related to Binance's regulatory violations. While some crypto sleuths labeled the trades as "obvious insider knowledge," other market participants argued that a Trump pardon for the prominent Bitcoin exchange founder was widely anticipated given the president's pro-cryptocurrency stance.

The incident highlights growing concerns about information asymmetry in decentralized finance (DeFi) prediction markets, where sophisticated traders may exploit privileged information. This development could influence regulatory approaches to cryptocurrency trading oversight and raises questions about market manipulation in the digital asset ecosystem. The trader's track record of successful high-value positions continues to attract attention from crypto investigators monitoring suspicious blockchain transactions.