Changpeng Zhao has been released following the President’s intervention
President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on Wednesday, marking a dramatic turn in one of the most high-profile crypto-related cases in US history. The announcement came through White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said the decision aimed to correct what the administration viewed as political overreach by the previous government’s crackdown on digital assets.
Zhao, widely known as “CZ,” had served a four-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges tied to Binance’s role in enabling money laundering. The plea deal, finalized under the Biden administration, also required Binance to pay more than $4 billion in fines and forfeitures, while Zhao personally agreed to pay $50 million. Though his sentence was relatively short, the conviction had become a symbol of regulatory pressure on the cryptocurrency sector.
Leavitt framed the pardon as part of Trump’s broader effort to revive innovation in the American crypto industry, claiming the Biden administration’s policies had “punished success” and damaged the country’s technological leadership. “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over,” she said in her statement, underscoring the new administration’s intention to take a friendlier stance toward blockchain-based businesses.
Zhao has not yet released a public statement, and Binance representatives declined to comment. Still, the pardon instantly sparked reactions across the financial and political landscape. Supporters of the move hailed it as a step toward regulatory reform, while critics argued it sent the wrong message about accountability in corporate governance.
The Justice Department, under Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2023, had called Zhao’s original plea deal a coordinated effort to hold Binance accountable for years of compliance failures. With the pardon now signed, Zhao’s legal record will be cleared, and Trump’s White House has effectively reset the federal government’s relationship with one of the crypto industry’s most influential figures.
