https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/trump-binance-changpeng-zhao-pardon-7509bd63 (Archive)
Changpeng Zhao Juliana Tan for WSJ
President Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the crypto exchange Binance, according to people familiar with the matter, following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company.
The president signed the pardon on Wednesday, the people said. Trump recently indicated to advisers that he was sympathetic to arguments of political persecution related to Zhao and others, one of the people said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.” She added: “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”
Binance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A pardon will likely pave the way for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to return to the U.S., after the company pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements and was barred from operating there.
The company has spent nearly a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, who left prison in September 2024 after serving a four-month sentence for related charges. Earlier this year, the company hired lobbyist Ches McDowell to help pursue a pardon, the Journal previously reported.
Since Trump’s election, Binance has also been a key supporter of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, a business that has driven a huge leap in the president’s personal wealth.
The Justice Department imposed a record $4.3 billion fine and burdensome oversight on Binance, which it said had become a colossal money-laundering hub through which sanctioned groups and criminal organizations laundered billions of dollars in illicit funds.
The pardon may also prematurely end the Justice Department’s three-year Binance monitorship, set up to ensure the company complies with U.S. financial crime laws. However, it likely won’t end a separate monitorship established by the Treasury Department without the additional approval of Trump or the Treasury secretary.
Binance executives met with Treasury officials this spring to discuss loosening U.S. oversight on the company, which has lost ground over its rivals due to its legal troubles, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Binance first reached out to allies of Trump last year offering to strike a business deal with the family as part of a plan to return the company to the U.S, the Journal reported earlier this year. Representatives of the Trump family have held talks to take a financial stake in the U.S. arm of Binance.
At the time, Zhao said he hadn’t discussed a Binance.US deal with anyone but wrote on X, “No felon would mind a pardon.” He later filed a formal application for a pardon and hired U.S. lobbyists.
World Liberty has generated significantly more income for the Trump family in the past year than their property portfolio ever has annually.
Binance has been one of the main drivers of the growth of World Liberty’s dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, called USD1. It delivered World Liberty’s first big break this spring when it accepted a $2 billion investment from an outside investor paid in USD1. Binance has also incentivized trading in USD1 across platforms it controls.
Changpeng Zhao Juliana Tan for WSJ
President Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the crypto exchange Binance, according to people familiar with the matter, following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company.
The president signed the pardon on Wednesday, the people said. Trump recently indicated to advisers that he was sympathetic to arguments of political persecution related to Zhao and others, one of the people said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.” She added: “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”
Binance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A pardon will likely pave the way for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to return to the U.S., after the company pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements and was barred from operating there.
The company has spent nearly a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, who left prison in September 2024 after serving a four-month sentence for related charges. Earlier this year, the company hired lobbyist Ches McDowell to help pursue a pardon, the Journal previously reported.
Since Trump’s election, Binance has also been a key supporter of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, a business that has driven a huge leap in the president’s personal wealth.
The Justice Department imposed a record $4.3 billion fine and burdensome oversight on Binance, which it said had become a colossal money-laundering hub through which sanctioned groups and criminal organizations laundered billions of dollars in illicit funds.
The pardon may also prematurely end the Justice Department’s three-year Binance monitorship, set up to ensure the company complies with U.S. financial crime laws. However, it likely won’t end a separate monitorship established by the Treasury Department without the additional approval of Trump or the Treasury secretary.
Binance executives met with Treasury officials this spring to discuss loosening U.S. oversight on the company, which has lost ground over its rivals due to its legal troubles, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Binance first reached out to allies of Trump last year offering to strike a business deal with the family as part of a plan to return the company to the U.S, the Journal reported earlier this year. Representatives of the Trump family have held talks to take a financial stake in the U.S. arm of Binance.
At the time, Zhao said he hadn’t discussed a Binance.US deal with anyone but wrote on X, “No felon would mind a pardon.” He later filed a formal application for a pardon and hired U.S. lobbyists.
World Liberty has generated significantly more income for the Trump family in the past year than their property portfolio ever has annually.
Binance has been one of the main drivers of the growth of World Liberty’s dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, called USD1. It delivered World Liberty’s first big break this spring when it accepted a $2 billion investment from an outside investor paid in USD1. Binance has also incentivized trading in USD1 across platforms it controls.
