Donald Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao

President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange and pled guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering.

Zhao served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

"I failed here," Zhao told the court last year during sentencing. "I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry."


His pardoning is the latest example of Trump flexing his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others.

"A lot of people say that he wasn't guilty of anything," Trump said of pardoning Zhao, one of the biggest names in the crypto industry.

Zhao and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family's crypto enterprises.