Donald Trump pardons former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, reports The Wall Street Journal
According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. The decision may allow CZ to return to Binance in an official capacity.
Talks about Zhao’s potential pardon began in May, when he submitted a formal request to President Trump. The process was delayed after Senate Democrats filed an inquiry. However, following the recent crypto market crash, the media once again described the pardon as “almost certain.”
Zhao’s 2023 conviction was one of the most high-profile cases in the government’s crackdown on major crypto exchanges. The Binance co-founder was accused of enabling illegal transactions with sanctioned entities and failing to enforce proper anti–money laundering controls.
In April 2024, Zhao pleaded guilty, stepped down as CEO, paid a personal fine of $50 million, and served four months in a federal low-security prison in California, followed by rehabilitation.
Innovation over punishment
With Trump’s return to power and his administration’s shift in attitude toward cryptocurrency, many observers see Zhao’s case as politically motivated. Trump’s team reportedly views the pardon as an opportunity to demonstrate a “new era” of crypto policy, one that prioritizes innovation over punishment.
Zhao remains Binance’s largest individual shareholder, and the pardon could pave the way for his official return to the exchange he founded in 2017 — now the world’s largest platform for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading.
So far, there has been no official confirmation of the pardon. The information comes mainly from The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, which reported last week that the Trump administration was actively reviewing the matter.
As we wrote, Changpeng Zhao under pressure amid $4.4 billion extortion claims
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