After Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, a founder and former CEO of Binance, was jailed for four months, U.S. President Donald Trump decided to pardon the crypto executive. Trump said that under the Biden administration, Zhao was “persecuted” and that he made his decision “based on recommendations from many good people”.
On Thursday afternoon, while talking to reporters, Trump said, “I do pardon a lot of people, and he was a person recommended by a lot of people. Were you talking about the crypto person? A lot of people say he was not guilty of anything.” He also said that although he had never met Zhao, he thought that the ex-Binance CEO must have had the majority of the public support.
Trump also criticized CNN’s Kaitlan Collins’ question about the pardon and referred her news outlet as “fake news”.”I don’t know him, I don’t think I’ve ever met him, but I’ve been told he had a lot of support, and they even say that what he did is not a crime… so at the request of a lot of very good people, I gave him a pardon,” he continued.
In 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to the charges of not maintaining an effective anti-money laundering program and was sentenced to four months in prison. He paid a fine of $50 million and was released in September 2024, while Binance agreed to a settlement of $4.3 billion with U.S. authorities. After getting the pardon, Zhao said that he was “extremely thankful” and pledged to help “make America the crypto capital”.
Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported on the possibility of World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed firm, acquiring a stake in Binance.US. This happened in a situation when a presidential pardon for Zhao was speculated, which World Liberty denied. About six weeks later, MGX, a company based in Abu Dhabi, issued a public statement announcing a $2 billion transaction with Binance, utilizing World Liberty’s USD 1 stablecoin.
After Trump’s announcement, BNB, the native token of Binance, went up by more than 5%, and WLFI, the token of World Liberty, increased by more than 15%, according to the data compiled by The Block. Earlier in January, Trump had pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road.
During the same period, the SEC took the initiative to impose penalties on a number of crypto firms such as Coinbase and Binance. In an attempt to rationalize his political-targeting-by-the-administration theory, Bankman-Fried insinuated that his lost texts should be considered as evidence supporting that theory.
After being apprehended in the Bahamas last December, Bankman-Fried was found guilty in November 2023 of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the misuse of customer funds. His legal counsel has subsequently lodged a request for reconsideration of the decision and is also requesting clemency from President Donald Trump, who has previously pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road.
Crypto evolves every second—make sure you don’t miss a beat. Visit Chainbull for expert insights, detailed market breakdowns, and trusted updates from the world of blockchain and digital assets.
