President Donald Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of crypto exchange Binance—who has worked hard to boost the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto business after Trump’s election—after his conviction of money laundering charges and sanctions violations, the White House said Thursday.
Key Takeaways
- “President Trump has exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for [Zhao],” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday, adding Zhao was “prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
- Trump signed the pardon on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
- Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 after earlier pleading guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Justice Department, which included Zhao stepping down as Binance’s chief executive.
- Binance has played a key role in the Trump family’s crypto ventures: Binance listed USD1, the stablecoin created by the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial, in May and days later, the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped a lawsuit against Binance.
- World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff said in May that Binance would receive a $2 billion investment in the form of USD1, after Zhao met with Witkoff and other World Liberty Financial founders months earlier at a conference in Abu Dhabi.
- Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Forbes Valuation
Zhao has a fortune estimated at $85.6 billion as of Thursday, ranking him No. 21 among the world’s wealthiest people. Despite stepping down from his role at Binance, Zhao still holds roughly 90% of the exchange and a stash of its BNB tokens. Trump has an estimated net worth of $7.1 billion, and his most recent financial disclosure report indicates he earned more than $57 million in 2024 from World Liberty Financial.
Binance’s Bnb Token Surges After Zhao’s Pardon
Binance’s BNB has risen 5% on Thursday, paring back earlier losses in the morning while jumping from around $1,079 to above $1,131 in the hour after Zhao’s pardon was first reported. BNB has soared more than 96% over the last year, becoming the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap behind Tether, ether and bitcoin, respectively, according to CoinMarketCap.
Key Background
Zhao founded Binance in 2017, leading what became the world’s largest crypto exchange with more than 300 million users. In 2023, Binance and Zhao admitted to violating anti-money laundering laws, unlicensed money transmitting and sanctions violations in a plea agreement with the Justice Department. The charges followed claims from the Treasury Department and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Binance had “turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit” and failed to prevent suspicious transactions among groups like Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al Qaeda. Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in combined penalties, though it’s not immediately clear whether the company has completed its payment obligations.
Binance’s Relationship With Forbes
Forbes announced in February 2022 that Binance would invest $200 million in Forbes as part of a SPAC deal, though it never happened. The proposed investment came months after Zhao and Binance dropped a defamation lawsuit against Forbes.
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This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
