‘War on Crypto Is Over’: Donald Trump Pardons Binance Founder CZ
US President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance.
Zhao, widely known as CZ, plead guilty in November 2023 to violating anti-money laundering laws and US sanctions. The plea was part of a comprehensive deal with the US Department of Justice, in which Binance was required to pay a record-breaking fine of $4.3 billion.
Zhao eventually spent four months in federal prison. The DOJ had originally petitioned for a three-year prison sentence.
After issuing the pardon, the White House accused Zhao of being the victim of a plot to kick the crypto industry carried out by the administration of former President Joe Biden. Regulators brought a volley of lawsuits against high-profile companies in this era, and the DOJ pursued crypto industry figureheads for fraud.
“In its desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden administration prosecuted Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The Biden administration's war on crypto is over.”
Zhao, who founded Binance in 2017, is something of a legend in cryptoland for his bullish statements and flair for social media. Until his guilty plea, he routinely used his platform on X to rebuke accusations of injustice at Binance.
Zhao is the latest in a line of crypto figures to be pardoned by Trump. The president has received endorsements and millions of dollars in donations from members of the industry.
Immediately after returning to office, Trump the prison sentence changed by Ross Ulbricht, creator of Darknet Marketplace Silk Road. In late March, Trump pardoned the co-founders of crypto exchange BitMEX, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges related to their failure to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering system.
Although Zhao has already served his assigned prison sentence, the pardon will remove the anti-money laundering and sanctions violations from his criminal record.
“For him, I think this is really about clearing his name,” claims Patrick Hillmann, who previously worked under Zhao as chief strategy officer at Binance. “I think this is closure for him.”
The pardon could also clear the way for Binance to return to the US market, which it was forced to leave as a condition of the DOJ settlement. Binance spent months seeking a pardon for Zhao, who was released from prison in September 2024, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
