President Donald Trump granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, wiping away one of the U.S. government’s most significant crackdowns on crypto crime.

Zhao had pleaded guilty to money-laundering violations in 2023 and served four months in federal prison, after a yearslong investigation by financial regulators and U.S. prosecutors.

“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 press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday. “The Biden administration’s war on crypto is over.”

The pardon is the latest example of how high-profile business partners of Trump and his family have benefited fr

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