Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are speculating that former Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng "CZ" is closer to receiving a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump after changing his social media profile.
The odds of Zhao Changpeng receiving a pardon from Trump on the prediction platform Polymarket soared to a historic high of 64% on Saturday, but had dropped to 45% by the time of publication.
Several users noticed on Wednesday that Zhao Changpeng had removed the "ex-@binance" label—added after he stepped down as CEO in 2023 under a U.S. plea agreement—indicating that he may no longer be distancing himself from the exchange he founded in 2017.
A presidential pardon could allow CZ to resume a management or operational role at Binance—the exchange has stated that this is not possible as part of an agreement with U.S. officials.
After stepping down in November 2023, Zhao Changpeng stated that he had "no plans to return to the CEO position." However, in May, he confirmed that he had instructed his lawyers to apply for a pardon from Trump.
Trump has issued pardons for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht as well as BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed.
Cointelegraph reached out to a Binance spokesperson for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Zhao Changpeng is serving four months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to money laundering charges due to his failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program during his time at Binance.
As part of an agreement with U.S. officials, the exchange agreed to pay $4.3 billion, and Richard Teng has served as CEO since Zhao Changpeng's departure.
In addition to the financial penalties, Binance's global operations will be subject to three years of compliance oversight. However, some U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns about reports of Binance executives meeting with Treasury officials, questioning whether they might seek to modify the 2023 agreement.
"Since May, President Trump and his family have increased their financial ties to Binance through their company World Liberty Financial. Just this week, there were reports that Binance may be 'moving toward a potential agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that would allow it to forgo' external compliance oversight—this is a 'key supervisory requirement in its $4.3 billion federal settlement agreement,'" three Democratic senators wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, who signed the letter on Wednesday, also expressed concerns about Zhao Changpeng's alleged "financial entanglements with the president's family" in the pardon report from May. As of Thursday, Trump had not publicly commented on any agreements.
Related: Binance Negotiates with the U.S. Department of Justice to Terminate Compliance Oversight in $4.3 Billion Settlement Agreement
Original article: “Odds of Zhao Changpeng (CZ) being pardoned by the president soar after he changes his X platform profile”
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