U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the giant Binance cryptocurrency exchange, a White House official said on Thursday, the latest in a series of shows of clemency for crypto executives and other criminals.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said 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.”
Zhao said in a post on social media platform X that he was “Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.” He added: “Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto.”
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zhao, a billionaire who is one of the most influential figures in the crypto sector, in 2023 stepped down as chief of Binance after the company pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and paid a penalty of US$4.3 billion.
Zhao, a citizen of Canada who was born in China, personally paid a fine of $50 million and served nearly four months in prison last year after pleading guilty to the same charge. However, he kept his Binance stake, with one of his appointees becoming chief executive of the company.
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The U.S. Constitution gives the president broad power to issue pardons to wipe away federal criminal convictions, or commutations to modify sentences. Historically, presidents have largely waited until the end of their terms to use such powers, but there is no requirement that they do so.
Zhao told a podcaster in May that he had applied for a pardon from the Trump administration, adding that he had never spoken to the president.
The news of the pardon was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Zhao’s pardon is the latest in a series that Trump has given to crypto executives and entrepreneurs, as well as others convicted of white collar crimes.
While the details of the pardon had yet to be disclosed, it could pave the way for Zhao to return to the business he co-founded in 2017. It may also offer the chance for Binance to expand in the United States as the crypto industry booms under the Trump administration.
The Republican president in 2024 garnered support from the crypto sector for his second term as president by promising to
reverse the policies of Joe Biden, whose administration targeted crypto companies for fraud and illicit finance violations.
In March, Trump also pardoned the three co-founders of crypto exchange BitMEX who had pleaded guilty in 2022 for failing to implement a Bank Secrecy Act-compliant anti-money laundering program.
He has also pardoned the founder of electric truck company Nikola, who was convicted of fraud, and commuted the sentence of the executive of the now-defunct start-up Ozy Media.
Trump also pardoned in January Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running the underground online marketplace Silk Road but remained a popular figure within the crypto community.