U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a presidential pardon to Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who was convicted in 2023 on money laundering charges.
Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the decision, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement on Wednesday, said 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.”
The statement described Zhao’s sentencing as “excessively harsh,” a view reportedly shared by the President and his senior advisers following a months-long lobbying effort by Binance.
Zhao, widely known as “CZ,” was sentenced to four months in prison in May 2024 after pleading guilty to failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program.
He had stepped down as CEO of Binance in 2023 as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities.
As part of the agreement, Zhao personally paid $200 million in fines, while Binance admitted to violations including unlicensed money transmission, sanctions breaches, and anti-money laundering failures.
The pardon could pave the way for Binance to re-enter the U.S. market, pending regulatory approval.
The development marks a significant shift in the U.S. government’s posture toward cryptocurrency enforcement and may have broader implications for the digital asset industry.
