Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the world's largest crypto exchange Binance, after his active support for the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, writes UNN.
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White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said that with this move, the president "exercised his constitutional powers" and that "the administration's war on cryptocurrency is over."
President Trump signed the pardon on Wednesday, after Zhao served a four-month prison sentence for pleading guilty to violating anti-money laundering requirements.
C. The failure of the largest crypto exchange Binance: what caused the $19 billion losses
According to sources, Trump expressed sympathy for arguments about political persecution related to Zhao.
The pardon is likely to pave the way for Binance's return to the US market, where the company was banned from operating after pleading guilty in 2023 and being hit with a record $4.3 billion fine by the US Department of Justice. It may also prematurely end the DOJ's three-year monitoring of Binance.
C. The Trump family amassed a fortune of $6 billion in cryptocurrency
Since Trump's election, Binance has been a key supporter of World Liberty Financial, a venture that has fueled a massive increase in the president's personal wealth. The company, in particular, stimulated trading in the dollar-pegged cryptocurrency USD1, which was important for World Liberty.
Earlier this year, Binance hired lobbyists and reached out to Trump's allies, offering business deals with his family as part of a plan to return to the US. This move, like the previous pardon of another crypto executive, is likely to draw close scrutiny from Democrats due to potential ethical conflicts related to financial ties.
C. Trump made millions of dollars from cryptocurrency, golf clubs, and merchandise sales