The crypto trader who allegedly made millions by shorting the market ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement appears to have scored again—this time by betting that Trump would pardon Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
On-chain investigator Euan highlighted Etherscan data linking the trader’s wallet to a Polymarket account. The wallet reportedly earned $56,522 on Polymarket by wagering that Trump would grant CZ a pardon at some point in 2025.
The crypto trader had already drawn suspicion within the community for seemingly having insider knowledge, after perfectly timing large Bitcoin and Ethereum short positions just hours before President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement sent prices tumbling.
Some now believe the same trader may also have had advance knowledge of the presidential pardon.
Crypto exec Garrett Jin denies involvement
“Looking like obvious insider knowledge,” on-chain investigator Coffeezilla wrote in an X post to his 736,600 followers on Thursday, while resharing a post from fellow sleuth Eye, who claimed the trader “knows something we don’t.”
Former BitForex CEO Garrett Jin has repeatedly denied owning the crypto wallet in question, which reportedly opened a major short position on Bitcoin less than an hour before Trump announced “a tariff of 100% on China” on Oct. 10.
Jin also rejected claims of insider trading, asserting he had “no connection with the Trump family” after researcher Eye alleged that he controlled the wallet used by a large-scale Bitcoin short seller.
In a follow-up post on Oct. 13, Jin clarified, “The fund isn’t mine — it’s my clients’. We run nodes and provide in-house insights for them.”
Market voices say the trade “was obvious”
Swan Desk CEO Jacob King argued that the pardon was predictable, revealing in an X post that he made $956,000 by betting Trump would pardon Zhao.
“Especially after CZ invested over $2B into WLFUSD Stablecoin. That move practically screamed pay-for-pardon,” King said.
Meanwhile, crypto commentator Abbas pushed back against the insider trading claims.
“You really think someone with access to the President of the United States would use insider information to make $56K?” Abbas wrote, questioning the logic behind the allegations.
He added that Trump’s pardon of Zhao wasn’t an “extremely unlikely event,” noting that the possibility had “been talked about forever.”
