A surprise move from the white house
In a move that stunned Washington and the global crypto community, President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, better known as “CZ,” the founder of Binance. Zhao had previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering while running the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The White House confirmed the decision Thursday, saying Trump acted within his constitutional powers. “President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The announcement comes just two months after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump family’s own crypto venture—valued at around $4.5 billion—benefited from a partnership with a little-known trading platform linked to Binance.
Trump’s explanation: “A lot of people recommended him.”
When reporters pressed Trump on his decision, he offered a brief answer: “I don’t know, he was recommended by a lot of people.” He added, “A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything, and so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”
The decision followed a week after Trump commuted the 87-month prison sentence of former New York Rep. George Santos, who had pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft. These back-to-back acts of clemency are fueling debates about how Trump uses presidential pardon powers.
Ties between binance and trump’s circle
According to an NBC News report, Binance hired lobbyist Charles McDowell in September, who happens to be a close friend of Donald Trump Jr. McDowell’s firm, Checkmate Government Relations, was paid $450,000 for lobbying the White House and Treasury Department on “digital assets and cryptocurrency policy.”
This revelation has intensified scrutiny of Trump’s connection to Zhao and the crypto industry. Critics argue the pardon rewards a businessman whose company broke U.S. laws for profit.
Reactions: From praise to outrage
Zhao thanked the president on social media, writing, “Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.” He added that he plans to help make the U.S. “the Capital of Crypto” and expand the Web3 industry worldwide.
Binance also praised the decision, calling it “incredible news.” In a statement, the company said Trump’s leadership “will help make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world.”
But not everyone is celebrating. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) condemned the move, calling it “corruption in plain sight.” Warren said Zhao “pleaded guilty to criminal money laundering” and later supported Trump’s crypto venture and lobbied for a pardon. “Today, Donald Trump did his part and pardoned him,” she said. “If Congress doesn’t act, this lawlessness will continue.”
Zhao’s legal history and Binance’s record penalty
In November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty in federal court in Seattle to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. As part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice, he agreed to step down as Binance’s CEO.
Prosecutors accused Binance of running an unlicensed money-transmitting business, ignoring U.S. sanctions, and failing to prevent transactions tied to terrorism and cybercrime. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said Binance’s crimes helped make it the largest crypto exchange in the world.
Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024—far less than the three years prosecutors requested.
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White house defends the pardon
Press secretary Leavitt defended Trump’s decision, arguing that Biden’s Justice Department p“tried to destroy innovation.” She said, “The Biden Administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so far outside the guidelines that even the judge said he’d never seen anything like it.”
According to Leavitt, Trump’s action marks “the end of the Biden Administration’s war on crypto.”
Whether it’s seen as a victory for innovation or a case of political favoritism, Trump’s pardon of CZ has once again put him—and the cryptocurrency world—at the center of a national debate.
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