Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao
President Donald Trump pardoned Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering while heading a cryptocurrency exchange, the White House said Thursday.
“President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who is being prosecuted by the Biden Administration for his war against cryptocurrency,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Zhao pleaded guilty in the case in November 2023 and agreed to step down as Binance CEO as part of the company’s $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice.
He was sentenced to just four months in prison in April 2024.
Federal prosecutors had asked a judge to sentence Zhao to three years in prison.
Trump’s pardon of Zhao comes almost a week after he commuted the 87-month prison sentence of former New York Rep. George Santos, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
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