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US President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, months after the exchange’s former CEO confirmed he had sought a presidential pardon. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Zhao served four months in prison in 2024 upon request guilty in November 2023 to charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act. As part of the plea deal, he stepped down from the leadership of Binance, the exchange he founded and ran since 2017, and agreed to pay a $50 million fine. Binance also pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to a court-appointed monitor, as well as a record $4.3 billion fine paid to the US Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Treasury Department.
At the time, federal prosecutors alleged that Binance employees knew they were violating the Bank Secrecy Act, citing chat logs between various employees. The exchange served users in sanctioned countries and also “facilitated transactions between US users and users in sanctioned countries,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
With the pardon, Zhao can conduct more business operations in the U.S. If Binance also receives a pardon like BitMEX did earlier this year, it may be easier to develop operations in the U.S.
Zhao said he asked for forgiveness in May 2025following reports by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal that his team was seeking clemency for him.
BNB originally created as the native token of the Czech exchange Binance and now the native currency for BNB Chain, it added roughly 3% in the minutes following the news.
UPDATE (October 23, 2025, 15:58 UTC): Adds more details.
