"Zhao, widely known as CZ, pled guilty in November 2023 to violating anti-money laundering laws and US sanctions. The plea formed part of a sweeping deal with the US Department of Justice, under which Binance was required to pay a record-breaking $4.3 billion penalty. Zhao ultimately spent four months in federal prison. The DOJ had originally petitioned for a three-year prison sentence."
"After issuing the pardon, the White House has cast Zhao as the victim of a plot to trample the crypto industry carried out by the administration of former president Joe Biden. Regulators brought a volley of lawsuits against high-profile businesses during this era, and the DOJ prosecuted crypto industry figureheads for fraud. "In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims," says White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt."
President Trump granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, who pled guilty in November 2023 to violations of anti-money-laundering laws and US sanctions. The plea formed part of a DOJ settlement that required Binance to pay a $4.3 billion penalty. Zhao served four months in federal prison after the DOJ had sought a three-year sentence. The White House portrayed the pardon as ending a Biden-era campaign against cryptocurrency figures. Zhao founded Binance in 2017 and had publicly downplayed wrongdoing on social media. The pardon removes the listed criminal convictions from his record.
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