The Trump administration is reportedly considering a pardon for Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2024 and served four months in prison.
According to New York Post columnist and Fox correspondent Charles Gasparino, sources close to Zhao suggest that Trump insiders view the case against him as “pretty weak, and certainly not worthy of a felony charge and jail time.”
“Trump… is leaning toward a pardon (consider the source), which could pave the way for CZ’s return to the crypto exchange, as he remains Binance’s largest shareholder,” he noted, citing individuals familiar with Zhao.
During the Trump Administration, the White House adopted a more favorable stance on crypto, with regulators easing long-standing enforcement actions, promoting legislation to regulate the industry, and granting pardons to three BitMEX founders, including Arthur Hayes, and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
Changpeng Zhao seemingly unaware of any deal
Zhao responded to Gasparino on Friday but did not confirm awareness of a potential pardon. In May, the former Binance executive stated on the Farokh Radio podcast that he had officially applied for a pardon after seeing media reports suggesting he had already sought one.
“Thank you, Charles. Great news if true. Minor correction, there were no fraud charges. I believe they (the DOJ under the last administration) looked very hard for it but didn’t find any. I pleaded to a single violation of the Banking Secrecy Act (BSA),” Zhao remarked.
“I believe I am the only person to ever be sentenced to jail in US history for a single violation of the BSA, with no other charges and no prior history. Thank you for the coverage,” he added in a subsequent post.
Binance, Zhao, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zhao pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in November 2023 as part of a deal Binance struck with US authorities, which resulted in the exchange paying a $4.3 billion fine, while Zhao incurred a $50 million fine.
He was also mandated to resign as CEO, served four months in prison, and was barred from working at Binance as part of his plea agreement.
Trump’s crypto ties could hamper pardon
Gasparino indicated that a final decision is anticipated shortly. Nevertheless, a potential obstacle for the pardon is concerns from “Some in the White House,” regarding the “optics of a pardon due to the president’s business interests in crypto, making the situation obviously fluid.”
President Donald Trump and his family’s connections to the crypto sector, including ventures like his memecoin and decentralized finance protocol World Liberty Financial, have previously raised conflict-of-interest issues.
“Keep in mind these things often take longer than expected and this president does have more pressing matters to address, such as securing the return of Israeli hostages, resolving the broader Gaza conflict, and the situation in Ukraine, in addition to tariffs and a trade agreement with China,” Gasparino mentioned.
Related: Polymarket odds on CZ presidential pardon surge after X profile change
CZ enforcement action is an aftershock from FTX collapse
At the same time, Gasparino, quoting Eleanor Terrett, a host of the Crypto In America podcast and a former FOX Business reporter, stated that top cryptocurrency executives, some with connections to the White House, believe CZ’s charges resulted from an overreaction by lawmakers following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.
SBF, once at the helm of the $32 billion FTX exchange, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for seven felony charges linked to the downfall of FTX and Alameda Research in November 2022.
“CZ wasn’t accused of fraud like SBF, and many industry figures view his jail sentence as the consequence of regulators—still facing backlash from the FTX debacle—making an example of anyone in crypto who operated in or near the US,” Terrett reportedly stated.
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