Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao in Latest Crypto-Friendly Move

US President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of cryptocurrency giant Binance, wiping away his conviction for violating US money-laundering laws.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”

Zhao, who was born in China and holds Canadian citizenship, expressed 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. “We’ll do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto.”

A Turning Point for Crypto Politics

Zhao, once one of the most powerful figures in digital finance, stepped down as Binance CEO in 2023 after the company pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti–money laundering program and paid a $4.3 million penalty.

He later served four months in prison — the first-ever prison sentence for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires US financial institutions to verify customers and report suspicious transactions. Prosecutors said Zhao’s violations were unprecedented in scale.

The pardon, granted midway through Trump’s second term, could open the door for Zhao’s return to Binance and mark a broader rehabilitation of the crypto industry in the US, which has flourished under Trump’s deregulatory approach.

Crypto Allies Rewarded

Zhao’s pardon is the latest in a wave of clemency for figures tied to the crypto and tech sectors. Earlier this year, Trump pardoned the three BitMEX co-founders, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to similar anti–money laundering violations.

He has also extended clemency to Nikola’s founder, convicted of investor fraud, and commuted the sentence of Ozy Media’s executive after the company’s collapse.

In January, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, founder of the dark web marketplace Silk Road, a move celebrated across the crypto world.