Binance founder CZ confirms filing for presidential pardon from Trump

Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of Binance, has applied for a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump following his release from prison last year.

Zhao said on the Farohk Radio podcast released Tuesday that he formally submitted his pardon request through his lawyers two weeks ago.

"We only submitted after the Bloomberg article and the Wall Street Journal article came out," Zhao said. He was referring to two stories published in March that reported he was seeking a pardon amid business deal discussions with crypto ventures linked to the Trump family.

Zhao denied the reports at the time but did not rule out the possibility of seeking a pardon.

"Sorry to disappoint. The WSJ article got the facts wrong," Zhao said on X in March. "No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in U.S. history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge. I have had no discussions of a Binance US deal with … well, anyone."

The former Binance CEO said on the recent podcast that seeing the news reports prompted the application for the pardon. "If they are writing this article, we might as well just officially apply," Zhao said on the podcast show.

In September, Zhao was released from prison. He was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 after pleading guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an "effective anti-money laundering program." Zhao was also fined $50 million, while Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion as part of one of the largest corporate settlements on record.

While Zhao is seeking a pardon, he said he has no interest in returning to lead Binance. "I'm not really looking to become CEO of Binance again," said Zhao, who remains the largest shareholder of the world's biggest crypto exchange.

Presidential pardons involving individuals with strong ties to the crypto space have made headlines since Trump returned to the White House.

In late January, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road creator integrally tied to Bitcoin's early history. The pro-crypto President also pardoned three co-founders of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, including Arthur Hayes, in March.