Zeros

Kyrgyzstan's Digital Currency Experiment: A Second Act for CZ Remember when Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao for money laundering and other financial crimes? Well, CZ hasn't exactly retreated into quiet obscurity. Instead, the former Binance CEO appears to have found a new home—and a new project—in one of Central Asia's most unlikely crypto frontiers: Kyrgyzstan . The small nation has just launched a stablecoin called KGST , tethered 1:1 to its national currency, the som . This comes alongside their previously announced USDKG , a dollar-backed stablecoin reportedly supported by $500 million in gold reserves from the Kyrgyz Ministry of Finance . They're also moving forward with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) —the digital som —which President Sadyr Japarov granted legal tender status earlier this year. Pilot programs for government payments are already in the works. For Kyrgyzstan, this represents an ambitious leap toward digita...

Trump Pardons Binance Founder CZ : The Rules Just Changed Overnight The digital currency world just experienced its Iraq War "shock and awe" moment—and the regulatory landscape may never be the same. In a move that sent shockwaves through financial markets Thursday morning, President Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng CZ Zhao , the billionaire founder of Binance who pleaded guilty to criminal money laundering charges less than two years ago. Let that sink in for a moment. This isn't some low-level cryptocurrency entrepreneur. CZ ran the world's largest digital currency exchange—a platform that federal prosecutors said enabled money laundering connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking, and terrorism . He served four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act . Binance itself paid a record-shattering $4.3 billion fine to the Department of Justice . And now? Clean slate . The Political Calculus Is Stunning The...