Pardon

President Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Context

Zhao, commonly known as “CZ,” pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating US money laundering laws after federal prosecutors said he failed to implement adequate safeguards at Binance. The lack of compliance allowed hackers, money launderers, and figures associated with Hamas' military wing to trade on the exchange. Between 2018 and 2022, Binance processed at least 1.1M transactions that violated US sanctions, worth approximately $898M. Binance was ordered to pay $4.3B as part of a settlement. In addition, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024, paid a $50M fine, and completed his sentence in September 2024. He stepped down as CEO but retained his controlling stake in the company.

Pardon Announced

On Thursday, the White House announced that Trump had pardoned Zhao. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Zhao's prosecution under the Biden Administration was part of a “war on cryptocurrency.” She claimed there were “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victim” and said the prosecution “severely damaged the United States’ reputation.”

Leavitt added that prosecutors' efforts to seek a three-year prison sentence had harmed America's standing. In a post on social media, Zhao said he was “deeply grateful” for the pardon and pledged to “help make America the capital of crypto.”

Trump-Zhang Relationship

Binance contacted Trump allies last year with a business deal as part of a plan to return to the US market. The Trump family's crypto company, World Liberty Financial, has made more money in the past year than their real estate business has ever made in a single year, and the family has discussed buying part of Binance's US operations.

Binance has helped grow World Liberty's digital dollar, called USD1. Earlier this year, Binance helped arrange a major deal for World Liberty when an outside investor spent $2B using USD1. Binance has also encouraged trading of USD1 on its platforms. Zhao was worth $54.5B at the time of the pardon, and Binance remains the world's most popular platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies.

Market Impacts

The cryptocurrency Binance Coin jumped as much as 8% on news of the pardon. Binance had spent nearly a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, and the company remains the world's most popular platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency Binance Coin jumped as much as 8% after news of the pardon.