Cryptocurrency pardons: Who Donald Trump released from prison

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Donald Trump cryptocurrency pardons

Heather Morgan: Rapper, economist, money launderer

Heather Morgan, better known as Razzlekhan, has become a symbol of the hyperbolic side of crypto culture — a rapper from New York, a Forbes contributor, a startup founder, and a convicted criminal all-in-one.

In 2024, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempting to launder bitcoins stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack. Together with her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, Morgan helped conceal over 120,000 BTC — worth more than $4.5 billion at the time.

They purchased Walmart gift cards, electronics, and even a PlayStation, but investigators ultimately managed to trace every transaction. The couple also used the illicit funds to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs), though it’s still unknown which ones.

It could have been just another crypto crime story — if not for Morgan’s persona. Her TikTok and YouTube videos, where she rapped about dictatorship and hacker life, made her viral long before sentencing. And now, after an early release, Morgan posted a video thanking “Papa Trump” for “making my sentence shorter.”

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She hasn’t been officially removed from the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ register yet — she remains under supervision at a halfway house, a transitional facility for former inmates. Still, Morgan has already announced that she’s writing new music and is “back in the game.”

Changpeng Zhao: Business and politics

Just days before Morgan’s reappearance on X, Trump announced a full pardon for Changpeng Zhao (CZ) — founder of Binance and one of the most influential figures in the global crypto industry. CZ had been convicted in 2024 for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. Binance paid the largest fine in U.S. history — over $4 billion.

The verdict forced Zhao to step down as CEO, but now, following the presidential pardon, he can return to public life — and possibly to business. The White House did not officially explain the reasoning, but Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said:

“The President exercised his constitutional right to pardon Mr. Zhao, who was persecuted by the Biden Administration in its war against cryptocurrency.”

Trump made his message clear — he is the crypto president, and everyone convicted under Biden’s watch are “victims of the system.”

Ross Ulbricht: The old legend of a new era

It’s impossible to talk about the “crypto pardon season” without mentioning Ross Ulbricht — the man who started it all. In January 2025, the founder of Silk Road, the first darknet marketplace, was pardoned by Donald Trump after serving 12 years in prison.

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It became one of the president’s most high-profile campaign promises fulfilled — and a political signal: the crypto community is no longer the enemy of the state, but an electoral force.

The Bitcoin community never accepted Ulbricht’s guilt, calling his punishment excessively harsh. In response, the Free Ross movement emerged, advocating for a retrial, arguing that Ulbricht had been convicted of non-violent crimes and merely sought to implement libertarian ideas.Supporters claimed his sentence was a symbolic act of intimidation — a reflection of the American justice system’s double standards.

“Crypto pardon season” as a political technology

Under President Joe Biden, regulators took a hard line against crypto firms — imposing fines and filing lawsuits over securities law violations. But with Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, the government’s stance toward the industry shifted. Trump built his campaign on promises to support the crypto sector, receiving billions of dollars in backing from Silicon Valley power players.

Since the Republican’s inauguration, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has withdrawn several high-profile lawsuits against leading crypto companies. Yet this new policy reveals something deeper: the boundary between business and political power in the crypto world is becoming thinner than ever.

And that means new conflicts of interest — and louder debates — are still ahead.

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