President Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao
Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was pardoned by US President Donald Trump.
Zhao, also known as “CZ” sentenced to four months imprisonment After pleading guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws in April 2024.
Binance has been fined $4.3bn (£3.4bn) after a US investigation found it helped users evade sanctions.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Zhao’s investigation under the Biden administration part of the “war on cryptocurrency.”
He claimed that Zhao was targeted “despite no allegation of fraud or an identifiable victim” and said prosecutors’ efforts to seek a three-year prison sentence “seriously damaged the reputation of the United States.”
“The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over,” he said.
The move to pardon Zhao comes as the Trump administration adopts a friendlier stance towards cryptocurrency than its predecessors.
The president vowed to make the US the “crypto capital” of the world and made his mark in the digital currency world by launching his own currency Shortly before taking office in January.
It has since sought to establish a national cryptocurrency reserve and pushed to make it easier Americans use their retirement savings to invest in themselves.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that representatives of the Trump family, which owns its own crypto company World Liberty Financial, recently held talks with Binance.
The company tried for almost a year to pardon its former boss, who completes his four-month prison sentence in September 2024. WSJ reported on Thursday.
Binance has been approached for comment.
Registered in the Cayman Islands, the exchange remains the world’s most popular platform for trading cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
Zhao left the company in November 2023.
In a post on
“I made a mistake, I must take responsibility” he said.
At the time, US officials accused Binance and Zhao of “willfully violating” their laws and said they threatened the US financial system and national security.
Then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, “Binance ignored its legal obligations in pursuit of profit.”
“Deliberate failures allowed money to flow through the platform to terrorists, cybercriminals and child abusers.”
