U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founding father of the enormous Binance cryptocurrency exchange, a White House official said on Thursday, the newest in a series of shows of clemency for crypto executives and other criminals.
In an announcement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration of their war on cryptocurrency.”
Zhao said in a post on social media platform X that he was “Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.” He added: “Will do the whole lot we will to assist make America the Capital of Crypto.”
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Zhao, a billionaire who’s one of the crucial influential figures within the crypto sector, in 2023 stepped down as chief of Binance after the corporate pleaded guilty to failing to keep up an efficient anti-money laundering program and paid a penalty of US$4.3 billion.
Zhao, a citizen of Canada who was born in China, personally paid a advantageous of $50 million and served nearly 4 months in prison last yr after pleading guilty to the identical charge. Nevertheless, he kept his Binance stake, with certainly one of his appointees becoming chief executive of the corporate.
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The U.S. Structure gives the president broad power to issue pardons to wipe away federal criminal convictions, or commutations to change sentences. Historically, presidents have largely waited until the top of their terms to make use of such powers, but there is no such thing as a requirement that they achieve this.
Zhao told a podcaster in May that he had applied for a pardon from the Trump administration, adding that he had never spoken to the president.
The news of the pardon was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
LATEST IN SERIES OF PARDONS
Zhao’s pardon is the newest in a series that Trump has given to crypto executives and entrepreneurs, in addition to others convicted of white collar crimes.
While the small print of the pardon had yet to be disclosed, it could pave the best way for Zhao to return to the business he co-founded in 2017. It can also offer the possibility for Binance to expand in the US because the crypto industry booms under the Trump administration.
The Republican president in 2024 garnered support from the crypto sector for his second term as president by promising to
reverse the policies of Joe Biden, whose administration targeted crypto firms for fraud and illicit finance violations.
In March, Trump also pardoned the three co-founders of crypto exchange BitMEX who had pleaded guilty in 2022 for failing to implement a Bank Secrecy Act-compliant anti-money laundering program.
He has also pardoned the founding father of electric truck company Nikola, who was convicted of fraud, and commuted the sentence of the chief of the now-defunct start-up Ozy Media.
Trump also pardoned in January Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running the underground online marketplace Silk Road but remained a well-liked figure throughout the crypto community.