Binance also pleaded guilty to charges and agreed to pay a record-breaking $4.3 billion fine to settle charges with the U.S. Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Treasury Department.
“Biden’s War On Crypto Is Over”
With a presidential pardon, Zhao can conduct more business activities in the United States. If Binance is also awarded a pardon, like BitMEX did earlier this year, it could be able to easily expand operations in the U.S.
“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,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt said in a press release. “In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.”
“The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over,” Leavitt added.
CZ’s Return To Binance Imminent?
CZ previously refuted a report from The Wall Street Journal, which stated the former Binance chief had sought a presidential pardon. Then, roughly two months later, he confirmed that he had formally submitted a pardon request in May 2025, but that his team had done so after The WSJ story emerged.
As ZyCrypto reported, citing the New York Post and Fox News correspondent Charles Gasparino, momentum for a presidential pardon picked up earlier this month. Gasparino said that Trump was “leaning toward a pardon,” which could facilitate CZ’s return to Binance.
With the pardon now official, it remains to be seen whether CZ, who is Binance’s largest shareholder, will return to an executive role at the exchange.
zycrypto.com
