According to reports, the Trump administration is "leaning towards pardoning" Binance co-founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ), who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2024 and served four months in prison.
According to Charles Gasparino, a columnist for the New York Post and a Fox reporter, sources close to Zhao Changpeng say that insiders in Trump's circle believe the case against CZ is "quite weak and certainly not worth felony charges and imprisonment."
"Trump… is inclined to grant a pardon (considering the sources), which could pave the way for CZ's return to the cryptocurrency exchange, as he remains the largest shareholder of Binance," he quoted sources close to Zhao Changpeng as saying.
Under the Trump administration, the White House took a more favorable stance towards cryptocurrencies, with regulators rolling back long-standing enforcement actions, advancing legislation aimed at regulating the industry, and pardoning three BitMEX founders, including Arthur Hayes, as well as Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
Zhao Changpeng responded to Gasparino on Friday but did not confirm whether he was aware of any potential pardon situation. In May, the former Binance executive confirmed on the Farokh Radio podcast that he formally applied for a pardon after seeing media reports that he had sought one.
"Thank you, Charles. If true, it would be good news. A small correction, there are no fraud charges. I believe they (the Justice Department under the previous administration) worked very hard to find something but found no evidence. I pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)," Zhao Changpeng said.
"I believe I am the only person in U.S. history to be sentenced to prison for a single violation of the BSA, with no other charges and no prior record. Thank you for the report," he added in another post.
Binance, Zhao Changpeng, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zhao Changpeng pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in November 2023 as part of a deal between Binance and U.S. authorities, in which the exchange paid a $4.3 billion fine, and Zhao Changpeng was fined $50 million.
As part of the plea agreement, he was also forced to resign as CEO, serve four months in prison, and was banned from working at Binance.
Gasparino stated that a final decision is expected soon. However, a potential obstacle to the pardon moving forward is the "perception issue" among "some people in the White House" regarding "the president's business interests in cryptocurrency, so the situation is clearly fluid."
President Donald Trump and his family have previously raised concerns about conflicts of interest due to their connections to the cryptocurrency industry through ventures like meme coins and the decentralized finance protocol World Liberty Financial.
"Keep in mind that these things often take longer than expected, and this president does have more pressing matters to deal with, such as getting Israeli hostages home, ending the broader Gaza conflict and the Ukraine conflict, tariffs, and trade agreements with China," Gasparino added.
Meanwhile, Gasparino quoted Eleanor Terrett, one of the hosts of the Crypto In America podcast and a former Fox business reporter, saying that some top cryptocurrency executives with ties to the White House believe that the charges against CZ are a result of lawmakers overreacting after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX.
SBF, who once led the $32 billion FTX exchange, is serving a 25-year prison sentence for seven felony charges related to the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research in November 2022.
"CZ has not been charged with fraud like SBF, and many industry participants believe his imprisonment is a result of regulators—still reeling from the FTX incident—using any cryptocurrency person operating in the U.S. or nearby as an example," Terrett reportedly stated.
Related: Binance claims tokens did not drop to $0 during market crash, citing "display issues."
Original article: “White House Reportedly Considering Pardon for Binance Founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ)”
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