Cryprocurrency exchange Binance’s namesake token jumped 8 per cent on October 23, following news that co-founder Changpeng Zhao received a pardon from United States President Donald Trump.
At time of writing, at 22.35 pm IST, the token was trading at $1,132.74, up 5.38 per cent over the previous day, with market capitalisation of $157.65 billion and trading volume of $5.49 billion, according to data on Coinmarketcap.
‘Prosecuted in war on cryptocurrency’, says White House
Announcing the pardon to reporters, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
“In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” the White House said in a statement shared with AFP.
Why was Changpeng Zhao in prison?
In 2023, Zhao was found guilty of violating US anti-money laundering laws.
Zhao, known in the crypto community as CZ, served a four-month sentence in 2024 after pleading guilty to failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering measures at Binance, according to a Bloomberg report.
The guilty plea was part of a broader deal struck with the US government, which included a $4.3 billion settlement with Binance, it added.
The pardon means that Zhao’s criminal record will be wiped clean and could allow for Binance to make a comeback in the US, as per the AFP report.
Donald Trump’s connection to CZ in focus
As per a Wall Street Journal report, Binance has spent close to a year trying for the pardon for Zhao from Donald Trump. It added that Binance has been a “key supporter” of the Trump family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial.
Notably, prior to this, Donald Trump in a controversial move issued a blanket pardon for people convicted of violence in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, the AFP report added.
The US president also reduced the sentence of the disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was convicted of committing wire fraud and identity theft.
(With inputs from Bloomberg and AFP)