Pardoned Binance founder denies business relationship with Trumps
Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said his business relationship with President Donald Trump’s family was “misunderstood” following his pardon.
“There is no business relationship whatsoever,” Zhao told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
The former Binance CEO spent four months in prison after pleading guilty in 2023 to charges that he facilitated money laundering during his time running the company. Zhao was released in September 2024.
Trump’s pardon in October 2025 highlighted Binance’s ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto company founded by the president’s family.
The link stems from a $2 billion investment by state-owned firm MGX in March 2025. Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates to Binance. MGX was settled using USD1, a stablecoin created by World Liberty Financial.
Zhao resigned as CEO of Binance in 2023 as part of the plea agreement and $4.3 billion settlement with the Ministry of Justice. He remains a major shareholder.
“MGX is the investor. They choose USD1,” Zhao told CNBC. “My request from them was to pay us with cryptocurrency. I really don’t want to deal with banks.”
“A lot of people misunderstood this,” he added.
Zhao told CNBC that the company has since converted that investment into $1 in portions over time.
“Stablecoin is a payment currency only. Accepting it does not mean I am investing in the entity that issued it,” he said.
“As we have stated many times, WLFI is not a political organization and played zero role in the amnesty process,” World Liberty Financial spokesman David Wachsman said in a statement. he said. “To imply otherwise is dangerous and wrong.”
Wall StreetJournal reported Quoting sources familiar with the matter, following the pardon that in addition to MGX’s investment using USD1, Binance also helped create the technology behind the stablecoin.
Asked later why he issued the order, Trump said, “A lot of people say he’s not guilty of anything.” “So I forgave him at the request of many good people.”
NBC News reported the week Trump was pardoned that Binance had recently hired lobbyist Charles McDowell’s company, Checkmate Government Relations. McDowell is a friend of the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
Checkmate said it was paid $450,000, including lobbying the White House and Treasury Department for “executive assistance” and “financial services policy issues related to digital assets and cryptocurrency.”
Speaking to CNBC in Davos, Zhao said, “There are many media who told me that an agreement was made to provide amnesty.” he said. “As far as I know, there is no such thing.”
He still hasn’t spoken directly to Trump, Zhao told CNBC in Davos.
“The closest I got to him was today when he was holding the Peace Council session,” Zhao said. “And I was in the audience, about 30 to 40 feet away from him.”
One CBS “60 Minutes” In a November interview, Trump confirmed that he did not know Zhao.
“I have no idea who he is,” Trump said. “I was told that he, like me and many other people, was a victim of a vicious, terrible group of people in the Biden administration.”
— CNBC’s Jacqueline Corba contributed to this story.
