Good morning. President Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the crypto exchange Binance, following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company.

The president signed the pardon on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said. Trump recently indicated to advisers that he was sympathetic to arguments of political persecution related to Zhao and others, one of the people said.

• Back in business: A pardon will likely pave the way for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to return to the U.S. after the company pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements and was barred from operating in the country.
   
• Massive fine: The Justice Department imposed a record $4.3 billion fine and burdensome oversight on Binance, which the department said had become a colossal money-laundering hub through which sanctioned groups and criminal organizations laundered billions of dollars in illicit funds.
   
• Early end to scrutiny? The pardon may prematurely end the Justice Department’s three-year Binance monitorship, set up to ensure the company complies with U.S. financial crime laws. However, it likely won’t end a separate monitorship established by the Treasury Department without the additional approval of Trump or the Treasury secretary.

U.S. oil sanctions strike at Russia’s economic lifeline.

New U.S. sanctions hit at the core of Russia’s faltering war economy. Analysts said the impact of blacklisting Russia’s biggest oil producers—Rosneft and Lukoil—would hinge on three things: how well they are enforced, the reaction of major markets in India and China, and whether Moscow can circumvent the measures as it has up to now.

The new sanctions bring Washington and Europe into alignment in their pressure on Moscow for the first time since the start of the Trump administration. President Trump’s decision to impose the U.S. sanctions came after the Kremlin rejected Washington’s call for a cease-fire along the current front lines, followed by peace talks.

23andMe’s data-theft victims offered ‘genetic monitoring’ to ward off hackers.

Names, credit-card details and Social Security numbers are the currency of the dark net. Now, your DNA may be, too.

Ancestry-tracing company 23andMe is offering five years of genetic-monitoring services to millions of customers whose DNA data was stolen in a 2023 cyberattack, a move intended to mitigate exposure to impersonation scams, insurance fraud, hate crimes and blackmail. Cybersecurity experts say the long-term benefits of the services are unclear.

• The Iranian government used a network of shell companies and financial systems around the world to evade sanctions, moving about $9 billion in funds illicitly, the U.S. Treasury Department said. (Risk Journal)
   
• Federal regulators have opened a formal investigation into a Chinese manufacturer whose air-bag parts have exploded during crashes and are now tied to six deaths. The investigation represents a significant escalation of the clampdown on the sale of counterfeit air-bag parts in the U.S.

China gears up for more tech confrontation with U.S.

China will seek to become more self-sufficient technologically over the coming five years, the ruling Communist Party said in a new economic blueprint, signaling no respite in its intensifying rivalry with Washington.

The blueprint signals how competition between Beijing and Washington is only likely to escalate, with China looking to further reduce its reliance on the U.S. while advancing its own technological ambitions.

Critical auto-aluminum supplier says fire-damaged plant will restart this year.

Aluminum production at a key automotive supplier is expected to resume faster than expected after a fire knocked a New York plant offline last month. Novelis had expected that the supply of aluminum from its Oswego, N.Y., plant would be disrupted until early 2026, but the company said repair work is proceeding at a faster pace.

Novelis supplies about 40% of the sheet aluminum that is used in the automotive industry. The disruption in supplies has caused Ford Motor and Stellantis to stop production at plants in Michigan and Kentucky, causing thousands of workers to go on unemployment. 

• The U.S. flew Air Force B-1 bombers near Venezuela on Thursday, stepping up pressure on President Nicolás Maduro.
   
• U.S. Vice President JD Vance rebuked a vote by Israel’s parliament to extend sovereignty over the West Bank, calling it stupid and insulting.

• Several quantum-computing companies are in talks to give the Commerce Department equity stakes in exchange for federal funding, a signal that the Trump administration is expanding its interventions​ in what it sees as critical segments of the economy.
   
• The government shutdown will hit air-traffic controllers soon.
   
• New York City Mayor Eric Adams has endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the city’s mayoral race.
   
• Target plans to cut around 1,800 corporate roles as part of an effort to remake its strategy to reverse a period of stagnant sales.

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