{"id":90231,"date":"2025-10-23T21:30:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=90231"},"modified":"2025-10-23T21:35:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:35:48","slug":"donald-trump-pardons-binance-founder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/donald-trump-pardons-binance-founder\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump Pardons Binance Founder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>US President Donald Trump has pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Deeply grateful for today\u2019s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America\u2019s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice. <br \/>\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\ude4f<\/p>\n<p>Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide. <\/p>\n<p>(Still in flight, more posts to come.)\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CZ \ud83d\udd36 BNB (@cz_binance) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cz_binance\/status\/1981404850832494666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cDeeply grateful for today\u2019s pardon and [appreciative] to President Trump for supporting America\u2019s commitment to the principles of fairness, innovation, and justice,\u201d Zhao wrote on X.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal was the first to report this. According to journalists, the order was signed on October 22. Later, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the information.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump exercised his constitutional powers by pardoning Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration as part of their war on cryptocurrencies,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/crypto\/2025\/10\/23\/binance-changpeng-zhao-cz-pardon-president-donald-trump\/\">stated<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Throughout the year, there were numerous rumors about a possible pardon for CZ. However, the businessman repeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/cz_binance\/status\/1900194883891322948\">denied<\/a> them.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Community Reaction<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Many market participants on social media were surprised by the US president\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Welcome to the club <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cz_binance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cz_binance<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CryptoHayes\/status\/1981390062550983069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Support for Zhao and gratitude to Trump were expressed by the current CEO of Binance and the official account of the exchange.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@POTUS<\/a>! The spectacular news of CZ\u2019s pardon is a moment to reflect \u2014 not just on his individual journey \u2013 but on how far the crypto industry has come.<\/p>\n<p>CZ\u2019s belief in the power of crypto and user empowerment laid the foundation for so much of what exists today. <\/p>\n<p>At\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_RichardTeng\/status\/1981409683278602667?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThe spectacular news of CZ\u2019s pardon is a moment to reflect not only on his personal journey but also on how far the crypto industry has come. Zhao\u2019s belief in the power of cryptocurrencies and user empowerment laid the foundation for much of what exists today,\u201d Teng noted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>However, investor and entrepreneur Adam Cochran reacted skeptically to the situation. According to him, CZ admitted guilt in sanctions violations and \u201cknowingly allowed\u201d groups like <span data-descr=\"recognized as terrorist by several countries\" class=\"old_tooltip\">Hamas<\/span> and Wagner to use Binance.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is DISGUSTING \u2014 even for Trump.<\/p>\n<p>CZ admitted to sanctions violations. <\/p>\n<p>He had knowingly allowed groups like Hamas and Wagner to use Binance.<\/p>\n<p>CZ then:<\/p>\n<p>-Had Binance partner with Trump\u2019s World Liberty Fi on their new stablecoin<\/p>\n<p>-Partnered with Dominari Holdings (which\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pJCySwjbZ9\">https:\/\/t.co\/pJCySwjbZ9<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tPQQQkWLi4\">pic.twitter.com\/tPQQQkWLi4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adamscochran\/status\/1981380747547332630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Cochran also pointed out that Zhao and his projects have close ties with the presidential family.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cTrump has made it clear that crime in the US is legal if you can pay him enough \u2014 then he will pardon you, even if you have admitted to aiding dangerous terrorist organizations,\u201d Cochran added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Back in September 2024, Zhao <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/binance-founder-released-ahead-of-schedule\">was released<\/a> from prison. The entrepreneur <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/changpeng-zhao-begins-prison-sentence-in-california\">served<\/a> a four-month sentence on charges of money laundering and other illegal activities. As part of an agreement with the US Department of Justice, he agreed to <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/changpeng-zhao-to-pay-50-million-under-u-s-doj-settlement\">pay a $50 million fine<\/a> and step down as CEO of the exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Binance <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/binance-permanently-removes-changpeng-zhao-from-management\">permanently barred<\/a> CZ from management. However, the current CEO of the exchange, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/who-is-binances-new-ceo-richard-teng\">Richard Teng<\/a>, noted that he remains the largest shareholder. According to Bloomberg, his stake in the company reaches 90%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US President Donald Trump has pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[744,935,991],"class_list":["post-90231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-binance","tag-changpeng-zhao","tag-donald-trump"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"118","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90233,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90231\/revisions\/90233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}