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2025-10-23T15:41:38Z
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- Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, a White House official said.
- Zhao was sentenced to four months for money laundering violations tied to Biance.
- The pardon ends what the White House called the Biden administration’s “war on crypto.”
President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, a White House official said on Thursday.
Zhao pleaded guilty to charges that Binance violated US anti-money laundering requirements and was sentenced to four months in prison before he was released last year.
“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 spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” Leavitt said in the statement, which declared the Biden administration’s “war on crypto” to be over.
Attorneys for Zhao and Binance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
