A file photo of Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Binance | Photo credit: Pedro Nunes
US President Donald Trump has pardoned convicted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, a White House official said on Thursday.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by pardoning Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zhao, one of the most powerful people in the crypto world, was forced to step down as head of Binance when the company agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with the US government to end a years-long investigation into misconduct at the world’s largest crypto exchange.
Trump’s pardon for Zhao paves the way for the crypto magnate to return to the company he helped found in 2017. He has already served his time in prison after a judge sentenced him to four months.
Zhao’s pardon is the latest in a series Trump has handed out to executives convicted of white-collar crimes.
Earlier this year, he pardoned the founders of crypto exchange BitMEX in connection with similar anti-money laundering offenses and the founder of electric truck company Nikola was convicted of fraud. He also commuted the sentence of the director of the now-defunct start-up Ozy Media.
Published on October 23, 2025
#Trump #pardons #Binance #founder #Changpeng #Zhao #important #signal #crypto #policy