Donald Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao

President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of Binance, on October 23, 2025. Zhao had previously pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, resulting in a four-month prison sentence and a $50 million fine, while Binance paid over $4 billion in penalties. The White House defended the move as a correction of a "Biden administration witch hunt" and an end to a "war on cryptocurrency."

The pardon triggered immediate accusations of corruption and self-dealing. Reports indicate that Binance provided critical software and technical support for World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture launched by Trump and his sons. Furthermore, an Emirati state-backed fund, MGX, invested $2 billion into Binance using World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin, a deal that potentially generated tens of millions of dollars in annual income for the Trump family. Critics, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters and various ethics watchdogs, characterized the action as a "pay-to-play" scheme.

Trump denied any conflict of interest, claiming he did not personally know Zhao and acted on the advice of "very good people." Zhao also denied any business relationship with the Trump family, describing the pardon as a surprise. Despite the controversy, the move cleared legal hurdles for Binance to resume U.S. operations and coincided with a Trump executive order aiming to establish the United States as a global capital for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.