CZ Pardon: Trump-Binance Dealings Raise Concerns

Trump Issues Full Pardon to Binance Founder CZ

On October 23, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a complete and unconditional pardon to Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, the founder and former chief executive of Binance. Binance remains the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, reportedly handling tens of billions of dollars in daily trades.

CZ’s pardon follows years of intense scrutiny from American regulatory bodies that accused Binance of violating anti-money-laundering laws and facilitating transactions involving sanctioned entities. U.S. agencies had initiated parallel investigations as early as 2021.

In November 2023, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Office of Foreign Assets Control jointly announced that Binance had violated the Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions programs by enabling trades linked to terrorist organizations and restricted jurisdictions. The Department of Justice explicitly stated that Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit, thereby allowing illicit funds to pass through its platform.

CZ personally pleaded guilty in November 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program, a felony under the Bank Secrecy Act. As part of his plea agreement, he resigned as CEO and agreed to pay a $50 million fine. Binance itself also pleaded guilty to criminal charges, including conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act, operating as an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and breaching the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The company’s settlement with U.S. authorities amounted to $4.3 billion in penalties, one of the largest corporate criminal resolutions in history. CZ was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 and was released in September 2024 after serving his term.

This is not the first time President Trump has utilized his clemency powers in cases involving digital assets. On January 21, he pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road, which facilitated over $200 million in illegal transactions conducted via Bitcoin (BTC).

The Path Leading to the Pardon

Speculation regarding a potential presidential pardon for CZ began circulating in early 2025, primarily on social media and within cryptocurrency industry forums. These rumors suggested that Trump’s team was informally exploring clemency options for the Binance founder. Initially dismissed as mere chatter, the rumors gained significant traction when reputable media outlets started reporting on behind-the-scenes developments.

In March 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that members of Donald Trump’s family had engaged in discussions with representatives from Binance. The report also indicated that CZ was actively seeking a presidential pardon. Two months later, in May 2025, CZ confirmed that his legal team had formally submitted a pardon request, clarifying that while prior discussions had been denied, the official application was filed in late March or early April.

Following these developments, on May 14, several U.S. senators, including Elizabeth Warren, addressed letters to the Department of Justice and the White House, demanding transparency regarding the pardon process. The senators specifically requested documentation related to any communications concerning the pardon and highlighted the potential conflict of interest between CZ’s conviction, his ongoing ownership interests in Binance, and his plea for clemency.

Reports resurfaced in October 2025 suggesting that the White House was reportedly considering granting a pardon to CZ. These claims emerged amid increased media coverage of his case. The pardon was officially announced on October 23, just one day after it was signed. A statement from the White House described President Trump’s decision as an exercise of his constitutional authority and framed the move as a correction to what it characterized as prosecution by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency.

On the same day the pardon was announced, Senator Elizabeth Warren publicly denounced the decision. She argued that CZ had pleaded guilty to a money-laundering charge, subsequently financed Trump’s stablecoin initiative, and actively lobbied for his clemency. Warren issued a warning that if Congress failed to take action against such exchanges of influence, it would be deemed complicit in normalizing corruption.

Binance-Linked Business Dealings Surface Post-Pardon

The narrative surrounding CZ’s pardon intensified with the emergence of reports detailing business connections between Trump-affiliated entities and Binance. Adam Cochran, a prominent Ethereum (ETH) investor and venture capitalist, accused Trump and CZ of engaging in a coordinated effort, calling the pardon disgusting even for Trump.

Cochran alleged on X that CZ had allowed groups such as Hamas and the Wagner Group to utilize Binance. He further claimed that Binance later partnered with Trump’s company, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), to launch a new stablecoin. Additionally, Cochran asserted that Binance collaborated with Dominari Holdings, a firm linked to Trump’s sons and operating out of Trump Tower, and invested in these ventures through YZi Labs. He concluded that the timing of the pardon represented the clearest case yet of pay-for-crime. Cochran’s claims gained significant traction due to their alignment with public filings and official disclosures.

The initial significant link surfaced in April 2025 when World Liberty Financial, co-founded by Donald Trump and his sons, announced the launch of a dollar-pegged stablecoin named USD1 (USD1). The company claimed the stablecoin would be fully backed by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents. Company documents indicated that USD1 would operate on both the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks, integrating it into Binance’s infrastructure.

In May 2025, reports emerged that Abu Dhabi-based MGX Fund Management Limited intended to use USD1 to facilitate a $2 billion investment in Binance. Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, described the deal as a strategic vote of confidence in Binance and in the U.S.-linked stablecoin ecosystem. This transaction involved the Trump family’s crypto venture, a foreign sovereign-fund-linked investor, and Binance itself.

This arrangement quickly drew attention from Congress. In June 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley sent letters to both MGX and Binance, stating that President Donald Trump and his family are financially linked to World Liberty Financial, meaning that the President stands to benefit from your companies’ use of USD1 in this transaction. This correspondence formally established that the sitting president’s family could potentially profit from a multi-billion dollar deal involving Binance.

Further connections became public in October 2025 when Bloomberg Law reported that a subsidiary of Dominari Holdings Inc., an investment firm with recognized ties to Trump’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., had entered into a partnership with a blockchain project backed by CZ’s family office. The partnership aimed to develop infrastructure for digital assets and exchange-traded funds. The project, known as the Hemi blockchain, was described as a Bitcoin-programmability network. Dominari Securities, a subsidiary of Dominari Holdings, made a strategic investment in Hemi, and both entities planned to jointly launch a digital-asset treasury and ETF platform.

Bloomberg noted that Dominari operates from Trump Tower, includes the Trump sons in advisory or ownership capacities, and is widely referred to as Trump-linked, thereby creating another link between Trump-affiliated businesses and entities associated with CZ. While no public record confirms a direct exchange of favors, the overlapping business relationships and the subsequent pardon have attracted criticism from policymakers and industry observers who argue that the sequence of events blurs the lines between political power and financial self-interest.

A New Turning Point in Crypto Pardons

The presidential pardon brings CZ’s legal battles to a close but simultaneously reopens discussions about his potential future in the corporate world. His resignation from Binance in November 2023 was a condition of his plea agreement with the DOJ, requiring him to step down as chief executive after admitting to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.

With his conviction now erased, there are no apparent legal impediments preventing CZ from potentially rejoining Binance or assuming a leadership role in related ventures. Any such return would likely be contingent upon decisions made by the company’s board of directors and the approval of regulators in jurisdictions where Binance operates, particularly in markets with ongoing oversight of its compliance framework.

This pardon establishes a significant procedural precedent for the digital asset industry. It demonstrates that presidential clemency can extend beyond providing personal relief, potentially reshaping the professional trajectories of high-profile individuals previously convicted of financial crimes.