Key Takeaways
- Donald Trump has reportedly pardoned CZ.
- The move comes after months of lobbying from the convicted Binance founder.
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said CZ “was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a presidential pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder and former CEO of the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
Zhao, a Chinese-born Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to a single count of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program at Binance.
White House Pardons CZ
On Wednesday, October 22, the President reportedly signed the pardon for CZ, following months of lobbying efforts from Zhao and his family.
The move comes after Trump spoke sympathetically about Zhao’s convictions, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited one person familiar with the matter.
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said:
“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.
CZ’s Road To Conviction
Back in 2020, the American federal authorities initiated legal proceedings against Binance, alleging that the exchange had breached financial regulations by making available investment products that hadn’t been properly registered.
As global oversight tightened, Binance encountered a number of financial penalties and limitations in numerous nations.
By 2021, the platform ceased working in several key markets, including the U.K. and Germany in response to growing regulatory pressure.
The exchange’s difficulties in the U.S. escalated in 2023 when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated a significant civil suit.
The agency claimed that Binance marketed unlawful financial instruments and failed to adequately safeguard against trading irregularities.
This civil action paved the way for a major criminal inquiry into the business activities of Binance and CZ.
DOJ’s Probe
The DOJ’s criminal probe into Binance’s activities uncovered numerous breaches of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), including permitting individuals in nations under sanction, such as North Korea, to conduct transactions on the platform.
Investigators found that the platform had facilitated the transfer of more than 100,000 transactions tied to illegal funds without required reporting.
This ultimately culminated in CZ’s admission of guilt in November 2023.
He stepped down as CEO and, in April 2024, was sentenced to four months in a U.S. federal prison, a term he completed in September 2024.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
