President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO and founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. This development was confirmed by a White House official to the BBC, following an initial report by the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Zhao had been sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 after pleading guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws, completing his sentence in September 2024. His former company, Binance, was ordered to pay $4.3 billion after a U.S. investigation found it helped users bypass sanctions and was accused of "wilful violations" of U.S. laws that reportedly threatened the financial system and national security.
Reports indicate that Binance had pursued a pardon for its former executive for nearly a year. The pardon also aligns with the Trump administration's publicly adopted posture favoring cryptocurrency.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly1qrl9l1qo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss