White House Said to be Weighing Pardon for Binance Founder CZ
White House insiders say Trump views CZ’s case as “weak,” raising hopes for Binance founder’s return
Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao could soon receive a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, according to reports suggesting the White House is “leaning toward” clearing his record. Zhao, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering violation in 2023, served four months in prison and paid a $50 million fine as part of a $4.3 billion settlement between Binance and U.S. authorities.
Fox correspondent Charles Gasparino reported that Trump’s advisors believe the case against Zhao was overly aggressive and “did not merit a felony charge.” If granted, the pardon could allow CZ to rejoin Binance, where he remains the largest shareholder. The Trump administration has shown increasing support for the crypto industry, recently dropping several enforcement actions and pardoning notable figures like BitMEX’s Arthur Hayes and Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht.
Zhao responded to the reports on X, thanking Gasparino but clarifying that he hadn’t been charged with fraud. “I pleaded to a single violation of the Banking Secrecy Act,” he wrote, noting he might be “the only person ever jailed in the U.S. for such a charge.” Binance, Zhao, and the White House have not commented publicly on the matter.
Still, Gasparino cautioned that internal debate continues within the White House over the optics of pardoning CZ, given Trump’s personal crypto ventures, including his memecoin and DeFi project World Liberty Financial.
Many industry figures view Zhao’s conviction as political fallout from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, which left regulators scrambling to prove toughness on crypto crime. Unlike SBF, who is serving a 25-year sentence for fraud, Zhao’s case involved no allegations of deception or investor loss — a distinction now fueling calls for his exoneration.
