Trump pardons convicted Binance founder

Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering in 2023, stepped down as CEO under the crypto exchange’s $4.3 billion settlement with DOJ.

Updated October 23, 2025 at 6:20 p.m. EDT yesterday at 6:20 p.m. EDT

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao arrives at federal court in Seattle on April 30, 2024. The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump has issued a pardon for Zhao. (Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images)

By Julian Mark

President Donald Trump pardoned cryptocurrency titan Changpeng Zhao, who was convicted of violating federal anti-money-laundering laws in connection with his crypto exchange Binance, the White House said Thursday.

Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend.

“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,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in an email. “In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.”

In November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering guidelines and stepped down as chief executive under the terms of the plea agreement. Binance also agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine — one of the largest ever levied against a corporation. At the time, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said Binance’s “willful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform.”

Zhao also spent four months in federal prison. It’s unclear what the pardon means with regard to the fine or Zhao’s ability to lead his company again.

Follow Trump’s second term

“Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice,” Zhao wrote Thursday on X. “Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide.”

Trump on Tuesday issued the “executive grant of clemency,” offering Zhao a “full and unconditional pardon,” according to a copy of the document.

The pardon marks Trump’s latest act of forgiveness involving high-profile white-collar crimes. Last week, he commuted the sentence of former congressman George Santos, who faced more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft.

In May, Trump pardoned Julie Chrisley and Todd Chrisley, reality TV stars convicted of fraud and tax evasion. In March, he pardoned Trevor Milton, the founder of the electric vehicle start-up Nikola, who had been convicted of securities and wire fraud; he also pardoned three co-founders and an ex-employee of the BitMEX crypto exchange. Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an online drug marketplace that used bitcoin, was pardoned in January.

Trump’s willingness to issue pardons has led to a cottage industry in which attorneys lobby the White House and Justice Department on behalf of convicted clients, leading to concerns about fairness in the process. Trump appointed criminal justice advocate Alice Johnson to be his “pardon czar” and oversee key pieces of the process, which has given the White House greater influence over how cases are evaluated, The Washington Post reported.

For his part, Zhao in March hired crypto attorney Teresa Goody Guillén, whom he paid $30,000 to lobby the White House for “executive relief,” according to lobbying disclosures. Goody Guillén, a partner at the firm BakerHostetler, did not respond to a request for comment.

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, with a daily trading volume of nearly $24 billion, according to the website CoinMarketCap.In May, Trump’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial, announced a deal in which one of its crypto coins would be used in a $2 billion transaction between Binance and MGX, the state-backed Emirati investment firm.

The deal came amid the Trump administration’s efforts to bolster the crypto industry. In July, Trump signed the Genius Act, which cemented the nation’s first rules for financial institutions to issue crypto tokens known as stablecoins, whose value is typically pegged to the U.S. dollar. Since Trump took office, the Securities and Exchange Commission also has dropped investigations into crypto companies, such as the crypto exchange Gemini.

“In contrast to the Biden administration’s efforts to rigorously regulate cryptocurrency and successfully prosecute Zhao and Binance, Trump has essentially deregulated controls over crypto,” University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said in an email.

Tobias said the pardon raises the possibility of Binance being able to operate in the United States and avoid paying the $4.3 billion fine. Binance did not respond to a request for comment.

Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.

correctionAn earlier version of this article incorrectly said that the White House announced the pardon Wednesday. It was announced Thursday.

View this Washington Post article CLICK HERE