Nikolas Sargeant
President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering while heading the cryptocurrency exchange, the White House announced Thursday. The pardon likely provides a path for Binance to operate in the U.S. after more than a year of lobbying Trump.
Zhao, widely known as CZ, pleaded guilty in November 2023 and agreed to step down as Binance CEO as part of a $4.3 billion settlement by the company with the Department of Justice. Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison after he reached a deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty to enabling money laundering at Binance, and his sentence ended in September 2024.
The pardon has sparked controversy due to potential conflicts of interest. The Trump family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, is hosted on Binance, and Binance in September had retained the services of lobbyist Charles McDowell, who is a friend of Donald Trump Jr., paying $450,000 for work that included lobbying the White House for executive relief. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the move, stating that Zhao pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge, then boosted one of Trump's crypto ventures and lobbied for a pardon.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the pardon, noting that prosecutors had asked for a three-year sentence but the judge indicated he had never heard of such a departure from sentencing guidelines in his 30-year career. Trump told reporters he pardoned Zhao at the request of many people who believed the charges weren't even a crime.
BNB Price Surges on Pardon News
Binance's native token BNB rallied following the pardon announcement, climbing from $1,085 to $1,150 as markets responded positively to the news. Despite the gains, the token remains below its all-time high of $1,370 reached on October 13, reflecting ongoing uncertainty about the exchange's regulatory future even with Zhao's legal troubles resolved.
BNB is trading at $1113.62 at the ime of press.
