US president Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, marking one of the most controversial decisions of his second term. Mr Zhao, known in the crypto world as 'CZ', was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 after pleading guilty to violating US anti–money laundering laws.
Binance, which he founded in 2017, had also pleaded guilty and agreed to pay US$4.3bn (billion) in penalties after US authorities found that it had allowed users to evade sanctions and failed to maintain an adequate compliance programme. Mr Zhao completed his sentence in September 2024, and the presidential pardon now erases his conviction, restoring his right to engage in financial ventures that had been restricted since his guilty plea.
Announcing the decision, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the pardon was intended to correct what the administration called an overreach by the Biden administration. “This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration in its war on cryptocurrency,” Ms Leavitt says. “The president wants to correct this injustice and has exercised his constitutional authority to do so.”
The decision immediately triggered a political and ethical debate, with critics arguing that president Trump’s growing financial and political ties to the cryptocurrency sector may have influenced the move.
Mr Zhao, who resigned as Binance’s chief executive officer (CEO) as part of the 2023 settlement, expressed his gratitude on social media. “Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice,” he wrote on X. He added that he intended to work toward making the United States the “capital of crypto.”
Binance, which remains the dominant global exchange with average daily trading volumes of about US$65bn, called the decision 'incredible news', praising the White House for what it described as a commitment to innovation.
The pardon follows months of lobbying by Binance and industry figures seeking to overturn Mr Zhao’s conviction, which they claimed had been politically motivated. According to media reports, the company’s representatives had pursued the pardon since late 2023, coinciding with president Trump’s increasingly pro-crypto rhetoric.
The Trump administration has moved swiftly to roll back several Biden-era regulatory actions against the industry, including restrictions on crypto exchanges and digital asset trading platforms. The president has also launched a plan to establish a national cryptocurrency reserve and proposed allowing Americans to invest retirement funds in digital assets.
However, the decision has also renewed scrutiny of the Trump family’s own ventures in the sector. The family’s crypto enterprise, World Liberty Financial, has worked closely with companies linked to Binance, including Dominari Holdings, headquartered at Trump Tower.
Reports from The Wall Street Journal suggest that representatives from World Liberty Financial and Binance have held discussions about expanding cooperation on blockchain initiatives. Binance also reportedly processed major transactions involving a cryptocurrency created by World Liberty Financial earlier this year, fuelling speculation about overlapping financial interests.
When questioned about the pardon at the White House, president Trump appeared to play down his personal involvement. “Are you talking about the crypto person?” he asked reporters. “A lot of people say he wasn’t guilty of anything. They say he was persecuted by the Biden administration, and I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”
His remarks, however, did little to ease concerns among lawmakers who have accused the administration of favouring political allies and financial backers through executive clemency.
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren criticised the decision as 'a kind of corruption', arguing that it undermined accountability in an industry already struggling with transparency. “This sends the wrong message to every bad actor in the crypto world—that connections, not compliance, are what matter,” she says.
Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, a known Trump supporter, also expressed disapproval, writing that the pardon made it appear 'as though massive fraud is happening around him in this area'.
The justice department under the Biden administration had previously described Binance’s conduct as 'wilful violations' of laws designed to protect the financial system and national security. Then treasury secretary Janet Yellen had said Binance’s failures “allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform.”
At the time of his sentencing, Mr Zhao acknowledged his mistakes, saying that stepping down from his role and accepting responsibility was 'the right thing to do'.
President Trump’s pardon of Zhao follows a pattern of leniency toward figures in the crypto and technology sectors. Earlier this year, he pardoned the founders of the BitMEX crypto exchange, who had faced similar money-laundering charges, and Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road dark web marketplace. His administration has also commuted sentences for executives involved in corporate fraud cases, including those from Nikola and Ozy Media.
The pardon has been widely interpreted as a signal of president Trump’s broader agenda to position US as the global hub for cryptocurrency innovation. His administration has cultivated close ties with digital asset entrepreneurs, hosting crypto investors and NFT creators at White House events and openly promoting the use of blockchain-based financial products. While supporters see this as a forward-looking economic policy, critics argue that it blurs the line between public service and private profit.
Changpeng Zhao’s record is now legally cleared, Binance’s reputation has been partially restored, and president Trump’s message to the crypto industry is unmistakable: under his leadership, US will embrace digital assets, and what his team calls the 'war on crypto' is officially over.
