U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a presidential pardon to Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as “CZ,” the co-founder of

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

According to two reliable sources close to the matter, the decision came after months of lobbying from Binance’s legal and political teams, who argued that Zhao had been unfairly targeted under the Biden administration.

White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed the move in a statement released on Thursday. She said President Trump had “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”

Leavitt added that the president and his advisers believed Zhao’s punishment was too severe, describing it as part of a wider crackdown that had hurt innovation in the digital asset industry.

The pardon, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could open the door for Binance’s return to the U.S. market, a move many industry watchers say could reshape the future of global cryptocurrency regulation.

Zhao had previously pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls on Binance’s platform. In May 2024, he was sentenced to four months in federal prison and fined $200 million as part of a settlement that also saw him step down as CEO of the exchange he founded in 2017.

Binance itself agreed to pay over $4 billion in penalties after admitting to multiple regulatory breaches, including operating an unlicensed money transmission business and violating U.S. sanctions laws.

With the pardon now in place, speculation is growing about what this could mean for the crypto industry — and whether Trump’s move signals a friendlier stance toward digital currencies in his administration.