Binance has said it will compensate users hit by last Friday’s crash in wrapped tokens after a system failure prevented market makers from stabilizing prices.

Ethena’s stablecoin USDe briefly lost its dollar peg during a record-breaking $19 billion crypto liquidation event, falling to $0.65 on Binance before bouncing back.

The Trump administration is reportedly considering a pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. banking laws.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Binance to Compensate Users After Wrapped Token Crash 
• Ethena’s USDe Loses Peg During Crypto Sell-Off, Quickly Recovers
• Trump White House Reportedly Weighing Pardon for Binance Founder CZ

Binance to Compensate Users After Wrapped Token Crash

Binance has said it will compensate users hit by last Friday’s crash in wrapped tokens after a system failure prevented market makers from stabilizing prices.

Wrapped beacon ether (wBETH) plunged more than 80%, while BNSOL and USDe also saw sharp drops. The crash happened as Binance’s infrastructure buckled under trading pressure, blocking access to the data and tools arbitrageurs use to keep prices aligned with underlying assets.

Binance co-founder Yi He apologized and said affected users can apply for compensation, though only losses tied directly to the outage will qualify.

To prevent similar incidents, Binance is switching to conversion-ratio pricing for wrapped assets like wBETH, basing their value on the amount of ETH they represent rather than volatile spot prices.

Ethena’s USDe Loses Peg During Crypto Sell-Off, Quickly Recovers

Ethena’s stablecoin USDe briefly lost its dollar peg during a record-breaking $19 billion crypto liquidation event, falling to $0.65 on Binance before bouncing back.

USDe, which offers a 5.5% yield and is backed by a basis trade strategy involving futures and spot market spreads, was hit hard as liquidations rippled through leveraged positions. Ethena’s governance token ENA fell as much as 40% before partially recovering.

Despite the dip, Ethena Labs said the protocol’s core systems continued to operate normally. Minting and redeeming USDe remained available, and the stablecoin remained overcollateralized throughout the crash. The team pointed to distortions in perpetual futures pricing as a key driver of the temporary peg loss.

Some DeFi lending platforms were shielded from the volatility by relying on static pricing, but centralized exchanges like Binance and Bybit marked USDe to real-time market data, magnifying the effects of the price drop.

Trump White House Reportedly Weighing Pardon for Binance Founder CZ

The Trump administration is reportedly considering a pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. banking laws.

Fox correspondent Charles Gasparino cited sources saying Trump allies view the charges as excessive and believe Zhao’s case lacked evidence of fraud. Zhao remains Binance’s largest shareholder but stepped down as CEO in the $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities.

Zhao confirmed he applied for a pardon but said he wasn’t aware of any current deal. “Great news if true,” he posted on X.

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