U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao had served time in prison for not preventing criminals from using the platform for illicit activities related to child exploitation, drug trafficking, and terrorism. Prior to this pardon, Zhao had requested clemency from Trump. He has strong connections to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project initiated by the Republican president and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. in September.
According to Trump’s latest financial disclosure report, he earned over $57 million from World Liberty Financial last year. The project has introduced USD1, a stablecoin tied at a 1-to-1 ratio to the U.S. dollar. Moreover, World Liberty Financial recently disclosed that a UAE-based investment fund plans to utilize $2 billion worth of USD1 to acquire a share in Binance. Zhao had publicly expressed his plea for a pardon from Trump to overturn his conviction.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Thursday that the Biden administration targeted Zhao due to a perceived bias against the cryptocurrency sector. Leavitt emphasized that there were no allegations of fraud or specific victims involved, despite Zhao admitting guilt in November to a charge of neglecting an anti-money-laundering program.
In court last year, Zhao accepted responsibility for his actions, acknowledging his failure and expressing deep regret and remorse.