President Donald Trump just dropped a bombshell by pardoning the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, in a move that’s got the financial world buzzing.
On Thursday, October 23, 2025, Trump issued a pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, a major player in the crypto sphere, following a controversial guilty plea and a stint behind bars for compliance failures at Binance.
Let’s rewind a bit: back in 2023, Zhao admitted guilt for not having a robust anti-money-laundering system in place at Binance, a failure that prosecutors said allowed shady transactions involving sanctioned entities and criminal networks.
After his plea, Zhao spent nearly four months in prison, a light sentence for some, considering the scale of the lapses at his exchange.
Binance itself didn’t get off easy, shelling out a staggering $4.3 billion penalty as part of the 2023 agreement, while Zhao personally coughed up a $50 million fine, per the Justice Department.
The company also agreed to multi-year federal oversight, with monitors from both the Justice Department and Treasury keeping a close eye on operations to ensure compliance.
Now, here’s where it gets juicy: since Trump’s rise to power, Binance has reportedly cozied up to the Trump family’s own crypto project, World Liberty Financial, which backs a dollar-pegged token called USD1, according to The Wall Street Journal.
For months, there’s been a noticeable overlap between Zhao’s interests and this Trump family venture, raising eyebrows about the timing and intent behind the pardon.
World Liberty Financial has apparently fueled a significant boost in Trump’s personal wealth, as noted by The Wall Street Journal, making this pardon look like more than just a goodwill gesture to some skeptics.
Speaking of the pardon, it could open doors for Zhao to dive back into U.S. markets with fewer restrictions, a move that might worry regulators still reeling from Binance’s past missteps.
While the Justice Department’s oversight of Binance might be affected by this pardon, the Treasury’s separate monitoring agreement would need additional steps to be dismantled, keeping at least some guardrails in place.
Defending the decision, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared, “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over,” a bold statement that signals a shift in policy direction. (Source: White House)
Leavitt’s comment might resonate with those tired of what they see as overzealous regulation, but let’s not forget the real risks exposed by Binance’s earlier failures—risks that could still linger if oversight weakens too much.
Zhao himself expressed gratitude post-pardon, promising to bolster U.S. leadership in the crypto space, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, though one wonders if this is genuine reform or just good PR. It’s a fair question for a man whose company once enabled illicit dealings on a massive scale, and conservatives who value law and order might hesitate to cheer too loudly without seeing real change.
