Trump pardons Binance crypto platform founder Zhao
US President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Zhao founded the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and was sentenced to prison for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money linked to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.
He had previously asked Trump for pardon.
The Republican president and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. have deep ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto startup he launched in September.
Trump’s latest financial disclosure report reveals he earned more than US$57 million ($88 million) last year from World Liberty Financial, which launched USD1, a stablecoin pegged 1-to-1 to the US dollar.
World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates will use $1 at a valuation of $2 billion to buy a stake in Binance.
Zhao also made clear that he wanted a pardon from Trump that could invalidate his conviction.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration prosecuted Zhao out of a “desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
He said there were “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims” despite Zhao admitting in November that he had failed to maintain the anti-money laundering program.
“I failed here,” Zhao told the court last year.
“I deeply regret my failure and apologize.”
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