President Trump Pardons Cryptocurrency Exchange Founder Convicted of Money Laundering

Washington — President Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, a billionaire cryptocurrency exchange founder who previously pleaded guilty to a money laundering-related charge. Trump cited political prosecution by the Biden administration as the reason for the pardon.

Changpeng Zhao, a Chinese-born Canadian entrepreneur, founded the cryptocurrency exchange Binance in 2017. In November 2023, Zhao admitted to enabling money laundering while serving as the CEO of Binance. As part of a multi-billion-dollar settlement with the Biden-era Justice Department, Zhao resigned from his position and served a four-month prison sentence after being sentenced in April 2024. Additionally, Binance was prohibited from operating in the United States.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “President Trump used his constitutional authority to pardon Mr. Zhao, who was targeted by the Biden Administration in their crackdown on cryptocurrency. Despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims, the Biden administration pursued Mr. Zhao, damaging the U.S.’ reputation as a tech and innovation leader. The war on crypto by the Biden administration is now over.”

With a net worth of approximately $86 billion, Zhao remains the majority owner of Binance. The exchange also has connections to the Trump family’s investments in the cryptocurrency industry. Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., established World Liberty Financial in the past year. A UAE investment fund selected World Financial Liberty’s stablecoin, USD, to support its acquisition of a stake in Binance.

When questioned about the affair, Trump responded, “I don’t have any knowledge about it,” as per the AP.