Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao After Biden’s ‘War on Crypto’

US President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the White House has confirmed Unscramble on Thursday, marking the last grace for the digital asset industry from a crypto-friendly administration.

Zhao, also known as “CZ”, resigned from his position as CEO of Binance in 2023 as part of a plea agreement which in 2024 sent him to prison for four months at a minimum-security prison in Lompoc, California.

A crypto tycoon has pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The The Wall Street Journal the first news of grace.

“President Trump used his constitutional authority to pardon Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in the war against cryptocurrencies,” White House press secretary Karoline Levitt said. Unscramble. “In its desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.”

“The Biden administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside the sentencing guidelines that even the judge said he had never heard of it in his 30-year career,” she continued. “These actions by the Biden administration have seriously damaged the United States’ reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation. The Biden administration’s war on cryptocurrencies is over.”

Editor’s note: This is a current report and will be updated.

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