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Ann Cao

Wency Chen

Freshly pardoned by US President Donald Trump, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng is expected to return at the helm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily turnover, according to analysts.
The Chinese-born Canadian entrepreneur, widely known as CZ, received a pardon after he pleaded guilty to breaking US anti-money-laundering laws and went to prison for four months, part of a US$4.3 billion settlement with the US government to resolve a years-long investigation into Binance.
Zhao was forced to step down as Binance CEO under the settlement by the US Justice Department in November 2023.
The pardon would likely enable Zhao to return and run day-to-day operations at his company, according to Phyrex Ni, a cryptocurrency industry veteran in China. That would end the three-year ban on Zhao from being involved in Binance’s operations, Ni said.
The pardon is also expected to pave the way for Zhao to lead a potential initial public offering by Binance in the US.
“A large number of leading [cryptocurrency] exchanges have gone public in the US,” Ni said. “Binance also wanted to list in the US, and it is very likely that it will continue with this plan.”
In a post on X on Friday, Zhao vowed to “help make America the capital of crypto and advance Web3 worldwide”.

Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice.
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto and advance web3 worldwide.
(Still in flight, more posts to come.)…
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 23, 2025

Zhao’s pardon reflected the Trump administration’s acts of clemency towards prominent cryptocurrency figures, as part of a shift away from the rigid regulatory enforcement during the Biden era.
In March, Trump pardoned cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX and its co-founders.
The company and its co-founders in January were sentenced to two years of probation and fined US$100 million for deliberately ignoring US anti-money-laundering laws to boost revenue, according to the US Justice Department.
“Trump has shown a pattern of extending clemency to figures with strategic or business relevance, and this move appears consistent with that behaviour,” said Matteo Giovannini, a senior finance manager at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and a fellow at the University of Hong Kong.
Giovannini expected Zhao to find his way back into Binance’s orbit in some fashion, though not immediately in a formal executive role. “I do not believe regulators will simply forget the past, so his comeback could remain controversial and closely monitored,” he said.

“CZ’s pardon is more of a political signal than a legal event,” said Ali Umut, a marketing expert in the cryptocurrency sector, in a Friday post on X. “The pardon enhances Binance’s global credibility and indirectly supports BNB’s long-term positioning.”
BNB, the native transactional token on the Binance platform, jumped as much as 7 per cent on Thursday midnight after the White House’s announcement of Zhao’s pardon.
With a market value of over US$150 billion, BNB is the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin and ether.
Zhao, who was born in China and moved to Canada with his parents at age 12, founded Binance in 2017 and has since emerged as one of the most prominent figures in the global cryptocurrency industry.
As of October 24, Zhao’s net worth was US$85.6 billion, according to Forbes.
In a post on X, fellow cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain network, congratulated Zhao on his pardon, which he described as “a historic moment” for the entire crypto community.


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Zhao vows to ‘help make America the capital of crypto and advance Web3 worldwide’, according to his post on X


Zhao vows to ‘help make America the capital of crypto and advance Web3 worldwide’, according to his post on X.


Crypto tycoon Zhao Changpeng plans comeback after Trump pardon: analysts

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Zhao vows to ‘help make America the capital of crypto and advance Web3 worldwide’, according to his post on X

Zhao vows to ‘help make America the capital of crypto and advance Web3 worldwide’, according to his post on X