Trump Pardons Binance Founder CZ in Crypto Clemency Move

The White House confirmed to Decrypt on Thursday that President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known widely as “CZ,” in what represents the latest clemency action for the digital asset industry from the crypto-friendly administration. The pardon comes amid ongoing political tensions between the Trump and Biden administrations over cryptocurrency regulation and enforcement priorities. White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt characterized the move as a necessary correction to what she described as the Biden Administration’s “war on cryptocurrency.”

According to Levitt’s statement to Decrypt, “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.” The White House spokesperson emphasized that the Biden Administration pursued Zhao “despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” framing the prosecution as politically motivated rather than legally justified. This pardon represents a significant escalation in the political rhetoric surrounding cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.

Changpeng Zhao’s path to this presidential pardon began with his 2023 resignation as Binance’s CEO as part of a plea bargain that ultimately sent him to jail for four months in 2024 at a minimum security prison in Lompoc, California. The crypto mogul had pleaded guilty to violating U.S. laws against money laundering at what remains the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The case against Zhao and Binance represented one of the most significant enforcement actions in the cryptocurrency industry’s history.

The White House statement highlighted what it characterized as excessive sentencing demands from the Biden Administration. “The Biden Administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside sentencing guidelines that the even the Judge said he had never heard of this in his 30-year career,” Levitt told Decrypt. This discrepancy between the prosecution’s sentencing request and the actual four-month sentence imposed by the court has become a central point in the political debate surrounding the case.

Zhao’s relatively brief incarceration at the Lompoc facility contrasted sharply with the government’s initial sentencing position, creating what Trump administration officials now portray as evidence of prosecutorial overreach. The four-month sentence ultimately served stands in stark contrast to the three-year term prosecutors had sought, highlighting the tension between regulatory enforcement and what the Trump administration views as appropriate punishment in the cryptocurrency space.

The pardon of Changpeng Zhao carries significant implications for the future of cryptocurrency regulation in the United States. According to the White House statement, “These actions by the Biden Administration severely damaged the United States’ reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation.” This framing positions the pardon not merely as an act of clemency for an individual but as a strategic move to reposition the United States in the global competition for cryptocurrency leadership.

The Trump administration’s characterization of the Biden approach as a “war on cryptocurrency” signals a fundamental shift in regulatory philosophy between administrations. Levitt’s declaration that “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over” serves as both a political statement and a policy directive, suggesting that future enforcement actions against cryptocurrency executives may face different scrutiny under the current administration.

This pardon follows a pattern of pro-crypto actions from the Trump administration and represents the latest in a series of clemency grants to figures in the digital asset industry. The move reinforces the administration’s positioning as friendly to cryptocurrency innovation, potentially influencing how other nations perceive the United States’ regulatory environment and how cryptocurrency companies approach compliance and operations within American jurisdiction.