Key Insights:
- Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, calling his prosecution “crypto persecution.”
- Zhao served four months in prison for violating the Bank Secrecy Act before receiving clemency.
- The White House said the pardon aimed to correct regulatory overreach against the crypto industry.
- The move aligns with Trump’s broader pro-crypto stance and rollback of past enforcement actions.
Washington — President Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, marking one of the most notable acts of clemency during his administration. Zhao, widely known as CZ, had served four months in prison after pleading guilty to failing to prevent money laundering activities on Binance.
The White House confirmed the pardon on Thursday, citing the administration’s desire to “correct overreach” by the previous government. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the White House counsel’s office conducted a complete review of Zhao’s request before Trump approved it. She added that the Biden administration had been “very hostile to the cryptocurrency industry.”
Trump said Zhao’s case had been recommended by “a lot of people” who argued he was unfairly targeted. “A lot of people say he wasn’t guilty of anything,” Trump said. “He served four months in jail, and they said that he was not guilty of anything.”
Zhao’s Conviction and the Case Background
Zhao had pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions to verify customer identities and report suspicious transactions. Prosecutors said Binance failed to enforce compliance, allowing over 1.5 million trades that breached U.S. sanctions, including transactions tied to terrorist organizations.
The Department of Justice described Zhao’s conduct as a serious breach of financial regulations. The sentencing judge noted that Zhao ignored U.S. compliance rules that could have slowed Binance’s rapid growth. During sentencing, Zhao expressed remorse, telling the court he had failed to meet.
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Despite the conviction, several industry observers saw the charges as regulatory rather than criminal. Former federal prosecutor Mark Bini described the case as “a regulatory offense” and said the pardon was unsurprising given Zhao’s profile.
Trump’s Position on Crypto and Industry Implications
Trump’s pardon of Zhao fits within a broader pattern of easing restrictions on the cryptocurrency industry. His administration has withdrawn several enforcement actions against crypto firms initiated under President Biden and has disbanded the Justice Department’s crypto-focused enforcement unit.
The former president emphasized that Zhao’s case represented “persecution” rather than legitimate prosecution. “I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people,” Trump said, asserting that Zhao had been unfairly targeted by the previous administration.
Trump’s stance has been well received by parts of the crypto sector, which has long criticized what it calls “regulation by enforcement.” The move underscores the administration’s intention to create a friendlier environment for digital asset innovation.
Zhao, expressing gratitude on social media, thanked Trump for the pardon and praised the gesture as a sign of America’s commitment to “fairness, innovation, and justice.”
