Former President Donald Trump has controversially defended his pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, claiming he does not know the cryptocurrency executive and alleging political persecution, despite Zhao’s federal conviction and questions surrounding Trump family business ties to the exchange.
Speaking at a White House roundtable, Trump told journalists he had never met Zhao, often known as CZ. He stated, “I don’t know him, I don’t think I’ve ever met him, but I’ve been told he had a lot of support, and I’ve been told that what he did isn’t even a crime.”
Trump emphasized that he pardons many people. He noted that “many good people” had supported the measure and asserted Zhao’s innocence.
When CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins pressed him on the pardon, Trump responded, “Are you talking about the crypto person? A lot of people say he wasn’t guilty of anything.”
Trump further insisted, “It wasn’t a crime, he was persecuted by the Biden administration, so I granted him the pardon at the request of many good people.”
Zhao founded Binance in 2017, growing it into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In November 2023, he pleaded guilty to failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program, violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
As part of his agreement with U.S. prosecutors, Zhao resigned as CEO. He was personally fined USD $50 million and served a four-month prison sentence. Binance, the company, paid USD $4.3 billion in corporate fines. It also accepted a court-appointed monitor to oversee its operations.
The pardon has raised eyebrows, particularly given Trump’s admission of no direct personal relationship with Zhao or in-depth knowledge of the case specifics. Reports have previously indicated links between the Trump family’s cryptocurrency businesses and the Binance platform.
Democratic lawmakers have called for transparency regarding the connections between Trump’s family crypto ventures and Binance. These calls intensified after a USD $2 billion investment flowed into Binance from an Abu Dhabi firm. This investment, made in the USD1 stablecoin of World Liberty Financial, occurred shortly after visits by Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
The pardon, initially reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the White House, is part of a series of controversial absolutions by Trump. This action reflects a broader shift in his administration’s stance towards cryptocurrencies.
Trump has pledged to end aggressive regulatory pressures on the sector. This pardon adds to other crypto-related pardons he has granted, underscoring his explicit support for the industry. Following Trump’s pardon for Zhao, the odds of a presidential pardon for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud, reportedly increased slightly on the Polymarket platform.