Crypto

It looks like President Donald Trump's feeling pretty generous these days ... because he just pardoned Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao.

Zhao, a Chinese-born Canadian man who founded cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance in 2017, pled guilty to enabling money laundering in 2023, according to NBC News.

He was sent to prison in April 2024 -- and he only spent four months behind bars before he was released.

Lance Stephenson is demanding an end to the sex toy-throwing chaos at WNBA games -- not just out of respect for the players, but also for the young fans in the crowd.

The longtime NBA star made things crystal clear to TMZ Sports this week ... following a fourth incident where a dildo was launched onto the court during a W contest.

"I got kids," Stephenson said. "For them to see that on the floor, man, I mean like, I'd be devastated."

One of the New York City "crypto bros" accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian millionaire to extract his Bitcoin password is out of police custody ... and it's an expensive proposition.

John Woeltz posted $1 million bond Thursday ... and our photog got him walking out of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse.

Celebrity bail bondsman Ira Judelson put together the bail package for Woeltz ... and Ira attached an electronic monitoring device to Woeltz's ankle before taking him to an undisclosed location in New York, where Woeltz will be under home confinement as the case plays out.

The two NYC "crypto bros" accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian millionaire to extract his Bitcoin password were granted $1 million bail each.

A Manhattan Supreme Court Justice handed down the decision on Wednesday for John Woeltz and William Duplessie, ordering neither can use cryptocurrency to post bail. If they have the funds, the pair will be released into home confinement with electronic monitoring and passport surrender pending trial.

Celebrity bail bondsman Ira Judelson will put together the bail packages for both men and fit them with ankle monitors.

Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly held 4 meetings with members of President Joe Biden's cabinet in 2022 before his FTX empire collapsed, leading to his arrest on federal fraud charges.

The disgraced "Crypto King," who is at the center of one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history, sat down with senior White House advisor Steve Ricchetti on September 8, according to a new report by Bloomberg.

Sam allegedly had 2 follow-up meetings with Ricchetti on April 22 and May 12. He also reportedly met with Biden's deputy chief of staff, Bruce Reed. It's not clear what was discussed in any of the get-togethers.

As we reported ... Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Dec. 12. He was federally charged in New York with eight counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and a campaign finance violation. He faces up to 115 years in prison if convicted.

The Bloomberg report is but another example of Bankman-Fried's deep ties with the Washington D.C. establishment before Sam was accused of stealing $1.8 billion from investors in his cryptocurrency scheme. And it's no secret that Sam has donated millions to the campaigns of prominent politicians, including Biden.

FTX might be doomed, but Mark Cuban isn't giving up on crypto just yet ... telling TMZ Sports there's still a ton of value in the digital currency, despite the exchange's massive crisis.

We spoke with the billionaire Mavs owner out in NYC this week ... and he told us that even amidst difficult times, he believes cryptocurrency still has relevance when appropriately used.

"Separate the signal from the noise," Cuban said. "There's been a lot of people making a lot of mistakes, but it doesn't change the underlying value."

Cuban said that as long as consumers have viable options in the crypto world, he doesn't foresee the currency going into the tank.

As we reported, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Steph Curry, Shaquille O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, Trevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani, and Naomi Osaka are all part of a lawsuit claiming FTX honcho Sam Bankman-Fried enlisted their help to scheme people.

We asked Mark about Bankman-Fried, who's accused of creating the fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme intended to take advantage of investors, and the billionaire thinks jail time is imminent for the 30-year-old.

"I don't know all the details, but if I were him, I'd be afraid of going to jail for a long time," Cuban said. "I talked to the guy and thought he was smart."

"I had no idea he was going to take other people's money and put it to his personal use."

Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Steph Curry -- plus a host of other huge-name athletes and celebs -- have all been sued following the collapse of FTX ... a popular crypto exchange app that they all endorsed.

The class action lawsuit was filed in a Florida federal court on Tuesday ... just days after users of the FTX platform lost their shirts when the co. suddenly collapsed and filed for bankruptcy.

According to the lawsuit, FTX honcho Sam Bankman-Fried created a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme "designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country."

Attorneys in the lawsuit allege Bankman-Fried enlisted Brady, Bundchen, Curry, Shaquille O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, Trevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani, Naomi Osaka, Larry David and Kevin O'Leary to help him facilitate the plan.

The attorneys pointed to an ad that Brady and Gisele did together back in 2021 ... where the two asked everyone they knew if they'd join them on the FTX platform.

The suit also claims an ad featuring Larry David, which, ironically enough, showed the comedian being skeptical of crypto, also contributed to millions of Americans signing on to do business with the org.

Everything fell apart last week, though -- after the company essentially didn't have enough money to cash users out.