{"id":51397,"date":"2025-10-13T09:54:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T02:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/white-house-reportedly-mulling-pardon-for-binance-founder-cz\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T09:54:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T02:54:32","slug":"white-house-reportedly-mulling-pardon-for-binance-founder-cz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/white-house-reportedly-mulling-pardon-for-binance-founder-cz\/","title":{"rendered":"White House reportedly mulling pardon for Binance founder CZ"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Trump administration is reportedly \u201cleaning toward a pardon\u201d for Binance co-founder Changpeng \u201cCZ\u201d Zhao, who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2024 and spent four months in prison. <\/p>\n

According to New York Post columnist and Fox correspondent Charles Gasparino, sources close to Zhao said that Trump insiders believe the case against CZ was \u201cpretty weak, and certainly not something that merited a felony charge and jail time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump\u2026 is leaning toward a pardon (consider the source), which could set the stage for CZ\u2019s return to the crypto exchange since he remains Binance\u2019s largest shareholder,\u201d he said, citing people close to Zhao. <\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>Charles Gasparino<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Under the Trump Administration, the White House has taken a friendlier approach to crypto, with regulators dismissing long-running<\/a> enforcement actions, advancing legislation<\/a> aimed at regulating the industry and also pardoning three BitMEX founders,<\/a> including Arthur Hayes, and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Changpeng Zhao seemingly unaware of any deal<\/h2>\n

Zhao responded<\/a> to Gasparino on Friday but didn\u2019t confirm if he knew anything about a potential pardon. In May, the former Binance exec confirmed on the Farokh Radio podcast<\/a> that he had officially applied for a pardon after seeing media reports that he had already sought one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Charles. Great news if true. Minor correction, there were no fraud charges. I believe they (the DOJ under the last administration) looked very hard for it, but didn\u2019t find any. I pleaded to a single violation of the Banking Secrecy Act (BSA),\u201d Zhao said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>Changpeng \u201cCZ\u201d Zhao<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI believe I am the only person to ever be sentenced to jail in US history for a single violation of BSA, with no other charges, no prior history. Thank you for the coverage,\u201d he added<\/a> in another post.<\/p>\n

Binance, Zhao and the White House didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zhao pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in November 2023 as part of a deal Binance reached with US authorities, which saw the exchange pay a $4.3 billion fine<\/a>, and Zhao was fined $50 million.<\/p>\n

He was also forced to step down as CEO<\/a>, served four months in prison, and was prohibited from working at Binance as part of his plea deal.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s crypto ties could hamper pardon<\/h2>\n

Gasparino said a final decision is expected soon. Still, a potential hurdle for the pardon going forward is concerns from \u201cSome in the White House,\u201d about the \u201coptics of a pardon given the president\u2019s business interests in crypto, so the situation is obviously fluid.\u201d<\/p>\n