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 said Thursday.
The pardon of Zhao, widely known as CZ, came two months after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump family’s own crypto venture, which has generated about $4.5 billion since the 2024 election, has been helped by “a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance.”
“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.
“In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” Leavitt said.
Trump, asked later Thursday why he pardoned Zhao, said, “I don’t know, he was recommended by a lot of people.”
“A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything,” Trump said. “And so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”
NBC News, citing a public disclosure filing from Monday, reported that Binance in September had retained the services of the lobbyist Charles McDowell, who is a friend of the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
McDowell’s lobbying firm, Checkmate Government Relations, disclosed that it was paid $450,000 for the prior month’s work, which included lobbying the White House and Treasury Department for “executive relief” and “financial services policy issues relating to digital assets and cryptocurrency.”
The clemency grant for Zhao came nearly a week after Trump commuted the 87-month prison sentence of former New York Rep. George Santos, who had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
“Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice,” Zhao wrote in a post on X.
“Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide,” he wrote, before adding, “still in flight, more posts to come.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., blasted the pardon, calling it an example of “corruption.”
“First, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge,” said Warren, who is the ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
“Then he boosted one of Donald Trump’s crypto ventures and lobbied for a pardon,” she said.
“Today, Donald Trump did his part and pardoned him. If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption in pending market structure legislation, it owns this lawlessness.”
Binance, in a statement obtained by NBC News, said, “Incredible news of CZ’s pardon today.”
“We thank President Trump for his leadership and for his commitment to make the US the crypto capital of the world. CZ’s vision not only made Binance the world’s largest crypto exchange but shaped the broader crypto movement,” the company said.
Zhao, in November 2023, pleaded guilty in Seattle federal court 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 had been charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to implement an effective anti-money-laundering program and for willfully violating U.S. economic sanction in an intentional effort to profit from the American market without implementing legally required controls, the DOJ said.
Binance had been charged with conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and conspiracy.
He was sentenced in April 2024 to just four months in jail.
Federal prosecutors had asked a judge to sentence Zhao to three years in prison.
Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland blasted Binance when Zhao pleaded guilty.
“Binance became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in part because of the crimes it committed – now it is paying one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history,” Garland said at the time.
Then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the same day, said, “Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. Its willful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform.”
Leavitt, in her statement Thursday, noted that prosecutors had asked for a three-year sentence.
“The Biden Administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside Sentencing Guidelines that even the Judge said he had never heard of this in his 30-year career,” Leavitt said.
“These actions by the Biden Administration severely damaged the United States’ reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation,” she said. “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”
Correction: Binance had been charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. An earlier version misstated the name of the act.
