Binance Blockchain Week 2025 delivered one of its most anticipated moments when Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance and Giggle Academy, took the stage opposite Peter Schiff, senior economist and founder of Euro Pacific Asset Management and Schiff Gold.

We are LIVE now from the #BinanceBlockchainWeek Main Stage!

The much-anticipated big debate is kicking off, don’t miss a moment!

Watch it live https://t.co/4ED3HwmOj9 pic.twitter.com/BaC6S7QN58

— Binance (@binance) December 4, 2025

The debate tackled a defining question for the global financial environment: Is the future of sound money rooted in Bitcoin or will tokenized gold ultimately prevail? The atmosphere was charged with investors, developers, policymakers, and institutional delegates filling the main hall for what quickly became a clash of ideology, economics, and technology.

Schiff: Tokenized Gold Enhances What Already Works

Peter Schiff framed tokenized gold not as competition to Bitcoin but as the modernization of a centuries-tested store of value. “Tokenized gold improves all the monetary properties of gold while it remains a store of value. The token is simply the evidence that you own the gold in the vault.”

He argued that technology solves the core logistical weakness of gold—portability—without undermining its intrinsic qualities. “For money purposes, tokenized gold is better than physical gold. Ownership can change hands while the gold never leaves the vault.”

Schiff reminded the audience that gold’s value is anchored in utility, rarity, and historical trust. “What gives gold value is not that you can touch it, but that it has real utility as a metal. There are industries that need gold and things only gold can do.”

For Schiff, tokenization is evolutionary, not revolutionary—retaining the asset while removing friction.

CZ: Digital Value Needs No Physical Form

CZ countered with the argument that Bitcoin is native to the internet economy and benefits from being purely digital. “If I give you Bitcoin right now, we can verify it in several ways that you received it. It settles instantly and transparently on-chain.”

He positioned Bitcoin as more than a currency—it’s a global decentralized ecosystem. “Bitcoin is more than a transaction network. It is an entire industry with many use cases and a very large, global community behind it.”

CZ dismissed the notion that money requires physical backing to be credible, comparing Bitcoin’s value to that of tech platforms. “The internet is virtual. There is nothing physical about Google or X, but they clearly have value. Many virtual things have value; that value is not tied to physical properties.”

Two Philosophies, One Converging Future

The debate pointed out a broader shift: traditional assets are being digitized, while native digital assets continue to mature. Tokenized gold caters to those who value tangible backing and historical stability; Bitcoin speaks to a generation aligned with decentralization and borderless liquidity.

If Binance Blockchain Week made one thing clear, it’s that the future of money may not be defined by one asset—but by how well traditional and digital systems coexist, compete, and inevitably converge.

The post CZ and Peter Schiff Face Off at Binance Blockchain Week 2025: Bitcoin or Tokenized Gold? appeared first on Cryptonews.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s blunt reminder about buying low and selling high landed at a tense time for crypto traders. His line — “Sell when there is maximum greed, and buy when there is maximum fear” — was posted as markets showed fresh signs of strain and debate over whether now is a buying moment or another stall.

CZ’s Message Meets Extreme Fear

According to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, sentiment recently climbed to 20, moving out of “Extreme Fear” after a streak of low readings. The index had hit a yearly low of 10 on Nov. 22 and the market had spent eighteen days stuck in extreme fear.

Unpopular opinion, but it’s better to sell when there is maximum greed, and buy when there is maximum fear.

— CZ BNB (@cz_binance) November 29, 2025

Analysts called that stretch unusually deep. Matthew Hyland described it as the “most extreme fear level” of the cycle, and other traders argued that calling it extreme was being generous.

Bitcoin Holds But Mood Is Fragile

Based on reports, Bitcoin was trading at $91,780, a far cry from the all-time high of $126,000 reached in October. Prices remain up from 2024 lows of just over $40,000, yet confidence is thin.

Santiment tracked online chatter and found talks focused more on volatility and institutional moves than on excitement. The Altcoin Season Index sat at 22/100, a clear sign that traders are favoring safety.

Market Psychology Overrules Charts

Traders reacted fast to CZ’s post. One user said emotion often beats logic in real trading. Another noted that markets tend to move on psychology well before technical signals line up. That gap between what traders know and what they do was on full display: many agree with the rule, and few actually follow it when prices slip.

History Offers A Hint, Not A Guarantee

Reports have disclosed that some analysts see a pattern. Nicola Duke pointed out that in the last five years, every time the market reached extreme fear, Bitcoin found a local bottom within weeks.

While past stretches can offer context, they do not promise the same result now. Bitwise researcher André Dragosch warned that current pricing reflects a recession-level global growth outlook — the most bearish setting since 2020 and 2022 — which raises real risk for buyers.

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Turns Positive After 29 Days

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin (BTC) Coinbase premium finally flipped back into positive after nearly a month of staying in the red.

Data from Coinglass on the 30th showed the premium at 0.0255%, marking the first positive reading in 29 days. For almost a month, the negative premium had suggested that selling pressure dominated the US market, with traders and investors leaning toward caution.

The Coinbase premium tracks how Bitcoin’s price on Coinbase, a major US exchange, compares to the global average. When it’s positive, it means the US price is above the worldwide average.

This is often seen as a sign that buying is picking up in the US, more institutions are getting involved, dollar liquidity is recovering, and overall investor confidence is improving.

Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView

An IT glitch at the Department of Veterans Affairs is delaying the payment of education benefits for thousands of veterans’ surviving children and spouses.

The VA, through its Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program, part of the GI Bill, pays education benefits for the children and spouses of veterans or service members who have died, been captured or are missing, or are totally disabled from a service-connected disability. The payments help eligible students pay for school or cover expenses while training for a job. Full-time students enrolled in this program receive nearly $1,600 each month from the VA.

The VA, in its latest contingency plans, said education benefits would be unaffected by a government shutdown, and would continue to be paid out on time. But the department has furloughed the IT staff who are able to fix this issue, and the department’s GI Bill hotline is also closed during the shutdown.

VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz said in a statement that some VA education benefits payments are behind schedule “due to the combined effects” of recently moving to a new claims processing system, a high volume of fall enrollments and the government shutdown.

“VA had planned additional systems enhancements to speed up the process and automate a large batch of these claims, but the Democrats’ government shutdown prevents the department from doing so,” Kasperowicz said.

Kasperowicz said any student dealing with delayed payments will be paid in full as soon as possible. The VA expects it will take until late November or early December to fully resolve the issue.

So far this month, the VA’s average processing time for these claims is about 49 days.

Ashlynne Haycock-Lohmann, director of government and legislative affairs at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), told reporters on Monday that the VA had updated the IT systems that handle these education benefits payments this summer. The VA in September reported a glitch to Congress that impacted education benefits for about 900 individuals.

Lohmann, however, said the department underestimated the impact of the glitch. In reality, she said it may have delayed payments for up to 75,000 student beneficiaries.

“VA never put anything out on out to schools. They never let the schools know that there was a problem. They never let students know that there was a problem. They told Congress it was a minor glitch. They have never taken accountability for what has happened here,” Lohmann said.

Jonathan Mackey, a senior at Southeastern Louisiana University, said he only received a partial payment of $839 last week, about $500 short of his usual monthly payment. He said the partial payment has made it harder to cover living expenses this month. Mackey, whose late father served in the Iowa National Guard, said VA’s “lack of community and accountability” has been a major source of frustration.

“Calls to the VA education have been unanswered, and we weren’t informed about the processing delays before the shutdown,” he said. “While we’re told by the schools that we’ll receive back pay eventually, we don’t know when that eventually is. And that doesn’t really help us pay the bills or feed ourselves in the meantime.”

Kaanan Mackey-Fugler, Mackey’s mother and a surviving spouse who forfeited her survivor benefits when she remarried, said this is now the third semester she’s had to step in and cover living expenses for at least one of her adult children, while they wait for reimbursement from the VA.

“Before the shutdown, we were told that our benefits wouldn’t be affected. Yet, here we are. Students and families across the country are desperate, and they’re anxious about how they’re covering bills month to month while our system’s still stalled out,” Fulger said.

Lawmakers have reached a deal to end the government shutdown, which should make it out of Congress and onto President Donald Trump’s desk later this week. But Will Hubbard, the vice president for veterans and military policy at Veterans Education Success, called on the VA to immediately reopen the GI Bill hotline and bring back furloughed IT staff to expedite claims processing.

“While there’s a deal in the works with the shutdown coming to a conclusion, every single day counts,” Hubbard said. “You have to understand that if a student is missing their payment, they’re wondering what’s going to happen the next day – not in three days, not in five days.”

In a recent survey of over 2,400 students, the National Association of Veterans Program Administrators (NAVPA) found that more than 1,000 reported payment disruptions, and that 740 of them attributed those delays directly to the shutdown. NAVPA President Camden Ege said students have been told to reach out to their schools if there is a problem with their VA education benefits, but said schools “don’t have those answers.”

“While the immediate cause stems from a technical glitch in VA systems, the government shutdown has made matters worse,” Ege said.

Joe Wescott, national legislative liaison for the National Association of State Approving Agencies, said that the VA should have alerted schools to its IT problems before the shutdown.

“The beginning of the fall term, this is not a good time to roll out an IT fix, about which there is uncertainty – not at all,” Wescott said.

The post VA IT glitch delays education benefits for thousands of students first appeared on Federal News Network.

© Getty Images/Kiyoshi Tanno

Interview transcript:

Eric White: In your experience of federal lawsuits pertaining to back pay during shutdowns, this one is going on and on pace to perhaps even be longer than the longest one in history just because we’ve really seen no movement or headway. What are we in for here and what have been your thoughts as you’ve seen this shutdown play out?

Heidi Burakiewicz: I wish I could answer the question about what we’re in for as people have been saying over and over since January 20th, this is unprecedented times and that continues here. It looks as though the shutdown has the potential to last as long as the last one, which lasted for 35 days, from December 2018 through 2019 and as far as sort of what we have in store for us, it’s unclear. The administration is threatening to not pay federal workers who are furloughed. They are using this as an opportunity to RIF and remove thousands of federal employees just because they work on programs that this administration does not endorse. Once again, federal workers are under attack and it’s unnecessary.

Eric White: Yeah, the threats of not giving back pay, I was curious on what effect that could potentially have for any future litigation. We’ve heard the president’s tweets mentioned in several federal workforce-related lawsuits that are currently ongoing between federal employee unions and things of that nature. Could that be invoked when someone like yourself or a class action lawsuit in the future going for back pay during the shutdown? What effect does that have on it or does it not have an effect at all? Am I overthinking it?

Heidi Burakiewicz: Well, during in 2019, Congress amended the Anti-Deficiency Act specifically to confirm that employees, whether they are accepted and working during the shutdown or whether they’re furloughed, that they will be paid at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriation ends. So to me, the law is quite clear that these employees are all entitled to back pay once the lapse of appropriation ends. So we’ll have to wait and see if the Trump administration actually follows through with its threats to not pay those workers who have been furloughed. And then of course, I envision that there’ll be legal action that will be taken if that is to take place.

Eric White: And so on that notice, like I said, would the Anti-Deficiency Act be the main focal point of an argument for any future lawsuit since the administration seems to have just ignored it and including taking it down from certain websites and everything else. I’m just wondering what any possible defense could be if the law is the law. Is it just a matter of trying to wait these folks out and hope that not as many will come forward looking for back pay?

Heidi Burakiewicz: I’m not sure what this administration thinks the defense would be. The law, as I said, it’s pretty clear to me that federal employees are guaranteed pay as soon as possible after the lapse in appropriation ends. I can’t speak for this administration and why they would choose not to follow that clear-cut law.

Eric White: Gotcha. All right. We’re speaking with Heidi Burakiewicz. She’s a partner with Burakiewicz and DePriest. On the reductions-in-force, that is something that is also unprecedented. Rifing in agency, I know that that’s not pertaining to the lawsuits that you worked on in the past, but how much more difficult does it make it to endure being either furloughed or accepted work and then, all of a sudden, you also get a rift notice in the mail. I can’t imagine that that’s going to go unnoticed as well in the in the courts, right?

Heidi Burakiewicz: Yeah, absolutely. There’s already litigation that’s been filed. For example, in the Northern District of California to stop the reductions-in-force that the administration is pushing forward during the shutdown. AFGE and the democracy groups, Democracy Defenders, Democracy Forward, are at the forefront of that as they have been with so much to protect federal workers. There is currently a temporary restraining order in place, I believe, that they filed for preliminary injunction yesterday to keep these illegal RIFs from moving forward. And I just can’t emphasize, there was an article, we’ll get the quote not right, but there was an article in the Washington Post several months ago talking about how the administration purposely wanted to basically torture the federal workforce and they’re using this shutdown as an opportunity to further do this. All of the attacks on the federal workforce are just not necessary, threatening not to pay the furloughed workers, rifing employees during the shutdown. Absolutely, even if there is a lapse in appropriations, it is not necessary for the Trump administration to attack the workforce the way they are.

Eric White: Any suggestions for employees that are going to be looking to enact their right to go to court after all this is said and done? I don’t know if there is any, you obviously save the RIF notice if you have it, I guess. But is there anything that former or current federal employees should do if they are looking to go that direction once the shutdown has ended and things get back to normal?

Heidi Burakiewicz: Well, I hope that the RIFs do not take place, that the unions who have been just instrumental in protecting the federal workforce and really trying to save democracy, I hope that their lawsuits are successful and that the RIFs that the administration has tried to put forward during the shutdown, that they’re able to stop them. If not, I would recommend any federal worker who has a RIF notice that is going forward. There’s the Federal Workers Legal Defense Network, which is providing an army of volunteer attorneys who are providing help to federal workers who need it, such as people who are experiencing these RIFs. So absolutely reach out, try to get help and challenge these illegal RIFs that are happening.

The post When the government shuts down, who protects federal workers’ paychecks and their jobs? first appeared on Federal News Network.

© Getty Images/Vladone

Bitcoin Magazine

Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao: WSJ

President Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of crypto exchange Binance.

The move follows months of lobbying by Zhao and allies who argued his prosecution was politically motivated. Sources said Zhao had also explored partnerships to bolster the Trump family’s own crypto ventures.

Trump signed the pardon on Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal, marking one of his most controversial decisions since returning to the White House. 

Advisers said he had recently expressed sympathy for Zhao, describing the Binance founder’s case as part of a broader “war on cryptocurrency” waged by the previous administration.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the pardon, saying Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority” to right what he viewed as a politically driven prosecution.

“The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over,” she said, according to WSJ. 

Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti–money laundering laws, was serving a sentence related to Binance’s compliance failures. The pardon effectively clears his record and could reshape Washington’s stance toward the crypto industry.

Rumors had been circulating that former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, better known as “CZ,” was under consideration for a presidential pardon this year. 

According to FOX Business’ Charles Gasparino, discussions inside the Trump White House had intensified over whether to pardon Zhao this most recent quarter.

Trump’s decision and attention on the matter was reportedly divided between foreign policy flashpoints — including conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and renewed trade tensions with China.

Binance or Zhao have not made a public comment yet. This story is developing.

CZ background

Changpeng Zhao’s 2023 conviction marked one of the most high-profile cases in the government’s campaign against major exchanges. 

U.S. prosecutors accused Binance of allowing illicit transactions with sanctioned entities and failing to implement proper anti-money-laundering controls. CZ pleaded guilty, stepped down as CEO, and paid a personal fine of $50 million.

Zhao served a four-month prison sentence. He was sentenced in April 2024 and released in September 2024, after spending time in a low-security federal prison in California and then a halfway house.

Despite this, even critics of Binance have questioned whether the criminal charges were proportionate. 

Trump’s team reportedly sees Zhao’s situation as an opportunity to demonstrate a “new era” of crypto policy — one that favors innovation over punishment.

This post Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao: WSJ first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.