U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the billionaire founder and former CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The move comes less than two years after Zhao pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws and served a four-month prison sentence.
Zhao was sentenced in 2024 after reaching a $4.3 billion settlement between Binance and U.S. authorities over charges that the exchange failed to prevent money laundering tied to crimes such as child exploitation, drug trafficking, and terrorism financing.
The Justice Department said Zhao ignored U.S. banking requirements to accelerate Binance’s global growth, allowing nearly $900 million in trades that violated U.S. sanctions.
Announcing the decision, Trump said Zhao’s case was the result of “overreach by the Biden administration” and that “a lot of people say he wasn’t guilty of anything.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the pardon followed a “thorough review” and was intended to correct what the Trump administration viewed as an “egregious oversentencing.”
In a statement posted to social media, Zhao expressed gratitude for the pardon, saying he was “deeply thankful to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.”
He added that he remains committed to helping make “America the Capital of Crypto” and advancing Web3 innovation worldwide.
The pardon underscores Trump’s increasingly close ties with the digital-asset industry, which has become a significant political force. Several leading crypto companies and investors have publicly backed Trump’s pro-crypto stance and contributed to his 2024 campaign efforts.
The decision drew mixed reactions from legal experts and regulators. While some called the pardon unsurprising, given Zhao’s regulatory rather than violent offense, others warned it could embolden lax compliance in the crypto industry.
Zhao, who founded Binance in 2017, has not commented on whether he plans to return to an active role at the company.