President Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, calling him a victim of political persecution by the Biden administration. Zhao, who served four months in prison for violating U.S. banking laws, expressed gratitude to Trump and vowed to help make America the “Capital of Crypto.”
Washington, D.C. — In a headline-making decision, President Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to billionaire Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. Zhao had pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering in November 2023 and finished his four-month jail sentence already this year.
Zhao was convicted of a crime, but President Trump commuted his sentence, calling him a “victim of political prosecution” during the Biden era.
Background: Binance’s Settlement and Zhao’s Guilty Plea
Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian businessman born in China, started Binance in 2017 and turned it into a global crypto giant. But in November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to breaking the Bank Secrecy Act and admitted that Binance had not taken enough steps to stop money laundering.
As part of the plea deal, Zhao agreed to:
Step down as Binance’s CEO.
Pay a $50 million fine personally.
Serve four months in federal prison.
They also admitted guilt and agreed to pay a huge settlement of $4.3 billion to the US Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Treasury Department. The trade was also watched by a judge to make sure it would follow U.S. rules in the future. financial regulations.
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Trump’s Justification: “He Was Persecuted”
The Trump administration framed the pardon as a defense of innovation and fairness in the crypto industry.
“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,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
She claimed the Biden-era Justice Department’s prosecution “severely damaged America’s reputation as a leader in technology and innovation.”
Speaking to reporters, Trump added,
“I don’t know him. I don’t believe I’ve ever met him. But a lot of people said he wasn’t guilty of anything. What they said he did is not even a crime. He was persecuted by the Biden administration. And so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”
Zhao’s Reaction: “Deeply Grateful to President Trump”
Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 23, 2025
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide.
(Still in flight, more posts to come.)…
Following the announcement, Changpeng Zhao expressed his gratitude on X (formerly Twitter), writing:
“Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice. Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance Web3 worldwide. Onwards.”
Zhao, whose net worth is estimated at $86 billion, according to Forbes, remains one of the wealthiest figures in the global crypto industry.
Ties Between Binance and the Trump Family
The pardon also comes amid reports of financial links between Binance and ventures connected to the Trump family.
In 2024, President Trump’s sons — Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. — launched a crypto investment company called World Liberty Financial. According to the Associated Press, an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates used World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin (USD) to purchase a stake in Binance.
When asked whether the pardon was related to these connections, President Trump dismissed the notion, saying,
“I don’t know anything about it.”
End of the “War on Crypto”?
With the pardon, Trump’s administration has signaled a significant shift in the U.S. how the government treats the crypto currency business. This could be the end of what the White House called the “war on crypto” by the Biden administration.
Some people praised the move as a win for new ideas, but others say it could make regulators less strict in the digital asset market.
As the 2024 election season gets up, Trump’s support for crypto seems to be part of a larger plan to appeal to tech investors and digital asset fans, who are becoming more powerful in the U.S. political and financial circles.
