Trump grants pardon to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao over crypto-case

President Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, former Binance CEO, on October 23, ￰0￱ White House called it a rebuke to the prior administration’s crypto ￰1￱ faced no fraud charges or named victims in his case, making the pardon a symbolic gesture for deregulation. Zhao’s 2023 Conviction In November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering ￰2￱ served a four-month prison term in 2024 and paid a $50 million ￰3￱ settled for $4.3 billion, and Zhao was banned from running the ￰4￱ case centered on compliance failures, not direct financial ￰5￱ Shift Signaled The White House stated the pardon ends Biden-era crypto ￰6￱ Secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized no fraud was alleged against ￰7￱ move aligns with Trump’s pro-crypto stance, promising lighter regulation.

Binance, still a major exchange, has not commented on the pardon’s ￰8￱ and Market Context Analysts view the pardon as a signal of softer ￰9￱ oversight. Zhao, a key Binance shareholder, remains influential despite his operational ￰10￱ reactions highlight relief, though some question the case’s ￰11￱ pardon may boost confidence in crypto markets, already buoyed by $26 billion in 2025 ETF inflows.