President Trump pardons former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

President Donald Trump pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, marking a sea change in how presidential administrations approach crypto. 

In a statement, Leavitt sharply criticized the former Biden administration.

“President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency," Leavitt said in an emailed statement. "In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims."

"The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over," Leavitt added. 

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the news of the pardon. 

Zhao later posted on X and thanked Trump. 

"Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide," Zhao said in the post. 

Zhao, also known as CZ, previously denied a report from The Wall Street Journal, which stated the crypto billionaire had been pushing the Trump administration for a pardon. Then, less than two months later, he said on a podcast that he had formally submitted a pardon request, but that he did so after The Wall Street Journal story.

A Binance spokesperson also celebrated the news of Zhao's pardon. 

"Incredible news of CZ’s pardon today," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We thank President Trump for his leadership and for his commitment to make the US the crypto capital of the world." 

Zhao's pardoning represents how far the crypto industry has come, said Binance CEO Richard Teng, in a post on X on Thursday. 

"We are building the next chapter - focused on increasing access by reducing fees, trust, and global innovation," Teng said. "We stand ready to support policymakers in the U.S. and around the world in their effort to make a more open and accessible financial future for the masses." 

Zhao to return to Binance helm?

The pardon could potentially set the stage for Zhao to once again take over running Binance.

Axios reported in September that Binance CEO Richard Teng said that although Zhao is Binance's largest shareholder, his plea agreement with the U.S. government included a lifetime ban from running the exchange.

Zhao was released from prison last year after being sentenced to four months' incarceration. He pled guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an "effective anti-money laundering program." He was also fined $50 million, while Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion as part of one of the largest corporate settlements on record.

Discussions within the White House concerning the possibility of Trump pardoning Zhao were beginning to advance further, according to a report from earlier this month. 

"Many Trump insiders believe the fraud case against Zhao was pretty weak, and certainly not something that merited a felony conviction and jail time,” Fox Business Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino posted to X.

Trump family's ties to Binance questioned

When The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that Zhao was angling for a presidential pardon, it also said the Trump-backed DeFi project World Liberty Financial had held talks about buying a stake in Binance.US.

World Liberty quickly refuted the claim.

"The unsubstantiated articles in the WSJ, Bloomberg, and elsewhere seem to be politically motivated and demonstrate a troubling pattern of agenda-driven journalism set on damaging the crypto industry," the firm said at the time.

About a month and a half after news surfaced about talks between Trump's team and Binance, the Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX said it would use World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to close a $2 billion deal with Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

On Thursday, crypto-wary Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized Trump's pardoning of Zhao, accusing the former exec of helping Trump with his crypto ventures. She also noted work being done in Washington to draft and pass legislation to regulate the industry as a whole. Many Democrats have had concerns about Trump and his family's involvement in digital assets. 

"If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption in pending market structure legislation, it owns this lawlessness," Warren said in a statement. 

White House Press Secretary Leavitt was asked about Democrats' concerns later in the day during a press briefing. 

"I would respond and say the president is exercising his constitutional authority to grant clemency requests," Leavitt said. "The president and the White House have a very thorough examination of every pardon request that comes to the president's desk — it is thoroughly reviewed by the White House Counsel office." 

Updated at 4:45 p.m. UTC to include details and a statement from Warren 

Updated at 5:05 p.m. UTC to include post from Zhao

Updated at 5:30 p.m. UTC to include comments from Binance

Updated at 5:50 p.m. UTC to include comments from Richard Teng and details from press briefing