President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao (CZ), co-founder of Binance Exchange. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, President Trump exercised his constitutional authority to end the war on crypto that was orchestrated by the Biden administration.
“President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was persecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” Leavitt said.
According to a report from WSJ, President Trump also rewarded the former Binance CEO following his efforts to support the Trump family’s crypto ventures. Notably, the Binance ecosystem, including the exchange and its affiliated platforms such as PancakeSwap (CAKE), has supported the Trump family’s crypto products through listings.
The Trump family’s crypto ventures include the World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the Official Trump (TRUMP), Melania Meme (MELANIA), and the World Liberty Financial USD (USD1).
In 2023, Binance and CZ agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle with the U.S. government. CZ had pleaded on the count of not maintaining proper Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls.
As such, CZ was sentenced to four months in prison in 2024. Following the pardon, CZ is effectively forgiven the conviction under U.S. law, thus restoring his lost rights. Consequently, CZ can freely enter the United States and do business in the country.
Following the announcement, Binance’s native coin BNB jumped as much as 6% to reach a range high of above $1,150. The large-cap altcoin, with a fully diluted valuation of about $157 billion, traded around $1,128 at press time.
In the long term, the CZ’s pardon will help bolster investors’ confidence in BNB, Binance, and its related products.
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