Binance’s Changpeng Zhao receives presidential pardon from Trump
By 
Oscar Gonzalez2025-10-23T20:07:00
The founder of crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, received a pardon from President Donald Trump. This pardon comes almost two years after Zhao signed a plea agreement and was charged with failing to maintain anti-money laundering controls, which came with a four-month prison sentence.
News of Zhao’s pardon came out on Thursday, but according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Trump signed the pardon on Wednesday. Zhao reportedly has been working with the president in a quiet partnership to improve the Trump family’s crypto ventures.
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, according to CNBC. “In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.”
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