President Donald Trump has pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, closing a major chapter in his legal battle.
The White House confirmed the pardon today through Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. She said Trump exercised his constitutional power to free Zhao, who was prosecuted under the Biden administration’s “war on cryptocurrency.”
Leavitt sharply criticized the previous administration, saying the case was driven by politics, not justice. “President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
She said in an emailed statement. “In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.” She added, “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”
Earlier, reports from The Wall Street Journal first revealed the pardon. Notably, Zhao had earlier denied trying to secure a pardon, but later admitted he submitted a formal request months after those claims surfaced. In an X post,
Fox Business journalist Charles Gasparino noted that many Trump insiders believed Zhao’s conviction was weak and didn’t merit jail time.
Following the announcement, the pardon had an immediate impact on the crypto market. Binance’s native token, BNB, jumped more than 5%, reaching $1,128, according to CoinMarketCap. The jump in BNB’s price shows traders’ optimism towards the news.
BNB price action | Source: CoinMarketCap
Previously, Zhao had been sentenced in 2023 to four months in prison after pleading guilty to not maintaining a proper anti-money laundering program. He was fined $50 million, while Binance paid $4.3 billion as part of a record corporate settlement. Zhao completed his sentence last year and has kept a low profile since then.
Looking ahead, his return to Binance could still be uncertain. CEO Richard Teng earlier said Zhao’s plea deal included a lifetime ban from running the exchange. However, Zhao recently changed his X profile bio from “ex-Binance” to “Binance,” sparking speculation of a comeback.
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