U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in 2023, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt 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 also argued that Zhao’s sentencing—he is widely known as CZ—was “excessively harsh,” a view shared by Trump and his senior advisers after months of lobbying efforts by Binance in support of the pardon.
The pardon, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could pave the way for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to resume operations in the United States.
Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison in May 2024 after admitting he failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. As part of a 2023 settlement with U.S. authorities, he stepped down as Binance CEO and agreed to pay $200 million in fines.
Binance itself paid over $4 billion in fines and penalties after pleading guilty to violations related to anti-money laundering, unlicensed money transmission, and U.S. sanctions laws.
