President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance and one of the crypto industry’s most influential figures, marking a dramatic turn in Washington’s relationship with digital assets and drawing scrutiny over the Trump family’s growing financial interests in crypto.

Zhao, known as “CZ,” served four months in prison after pleading guilty in 2023 for his failure to maintain an anti–money laundering program at Binance, which prosecutors said allowed transactions tied to child exploitation, narcotics trafficking, and terrorism.

He paid a $50 million fine as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with US regulators.

White House response

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Biden administration had pursued Zhao out of “a desire to punish the cryptocurrency

See Full Page