Binance Coin BNB$1,129.72 gained 3.3% in the last 24-hour period to trade at $1,126, outpacing broader crypto markets afterU.S. President Donald Trump issued a pardon for Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance.

Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to step down from the exchange he founded. The attempt to imprison him for three years drew criticism across the crypto industry, and ultimately Zhao served four months.

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the prosecution under President Biden as a “war on cryptocurrency.”

“We believe CZ’s pardon is more than an inflection point for him personally, but also for BNB and potentially for Binance, paving the way for greater access to the US market,” said David Namdar, the CEO of CEA Industries, the largest publicly traded BNB treasury firm.

“The fundamentals for BNB have never looked better in our opinion: a vast global user base, deep real-world adoption, and consistent utility across DeFi and CeFi alike,” he added.

BNB’s rally was fueled by a spike in trading volume that jumped nearly 35% above its seven-day average, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data model. In the rally, the token surged from $1,085.96 to $1,130.25 before meeting resistance between $1,140 and $1,143. Market data suggest the buying pressure was more likely accumulation than short-term speculation.

Technically, the token appears to be consolidating. Short-term resistance at $1,128 has capped several intraday rallies, while support at $1,124 has held up despite multiple tests.

Traders are watching to see whether BNB can break higher toward $1,150, or if a failure at current levels will send it back toward $1,078.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.