“War On Crypto Is Over”: Trump Pardons Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

Two weeks ago we reported on rumors that The White House was considering pardoning Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance better known as ‘CZ’.

And today, The Wall Street Journal reports, according to people familiar with the matter, that Trump has indeed pardoned CZ following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company.

The company has spent nearly a year pursuing a pardon for Zhao, who left prison in September 2024 after serving a four-month sentence for related charges.

Earlier this year, the company hired lobbyist Ches McDowell to help pursue a pardon, the Journal previously reported.

Zhao, once among the most influential figures in the digital asset world, served time following a plea deal with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023 that included a money-laundering conviction and $4.3 billion in fines for Binance. 

Zhao’s 2023 conviction marked one of the most high-profile cases in the government’s campaign against major exchanges. 

U.S. prosecutors accused Binance of allowing illicit transactions with sanctioned entities and failing to implement proper anti-money-laundering controls. CZ pleaded guilty, stepped down as CEO, and paid a personal fine of $50 million.

Zhao served a four-month prison sentence. He was sentenced in April 2024 and released in September 2024, after spending time in a low-security federal prison in California and then a halfway house.

Despite this, even critics of Binance have questioned whether the criminal charges were proportionate. Trump’s team reportedly sees Zhao’s situation as an opportunity to demonstrate a “new era” of crypto policy — one that favors innovation over punishment.

But according to several sources familiar with the matter, many within Trump’s inner circle viewed the case as politically motivated – a hallmark of what they describe as the Biden administration’s broader crackdown on crypto.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”

She added:

“The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”

The Wall Street Journal makes a point of highlighting the fact that Since Trump’s election, Binance has also been a key supporter of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, a business that has driven a huge leap in the president’s personal wealth.

Zhao remains Binance’s largest individual shareholder, and the pardon could clear the way for his formal return to the exchange, which he founded in 2017 and grew into the world’s largest Bitcoin and crypto trading platform.

A Trump pardon for CZ marks not only a personal vindication for Zhao, but could also be somewhat of a political statement: Trump signaling that the world’s most powerful government is truly open for Bitcoin business.