- Buy Crypto
- Markets
Futures- Spot
- Copy Trade
- Earn
- More
Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Seeks Trump Pardon After Prison Release
By: financefeeds|2025/05/08 19:00:05
0
Share
Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former chief executive of Binance, has confirmed he is seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, following his release from prison last year for violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws. In a podcast interview published on Farokh Radio , Zhao said his legal team filed the application two weeks ago, after media reports in March suggested he was pursuing clemency in connection with business discussions involving Trump-linked crypto ventures. “We only submitted after the Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal articles came out,” Zhao said. While he had previously denied reports of ongoing talks with Binance.US or Trump-affiliated firms, he acknowledged that the press coverage prompted him to move forward with a formal request. “If they are writing this article, we might as well just officially apply,” he added. Zhao served four months in prison after pleading guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. He was released in September 2024 and remains the company’s largest shareholder. In addition to his sentence, Zhao paid a $50 million fine. Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties, part of one of the largest corporate settlements in U.S. history. Despite the pardon application, Zhao said he has no plans to return to the helm of Binance. “I’m not really looking to become CEO of Binance again,” he said on the podcast. The move comes as the Trump administration has increasingly embraced figures tied to the cryptocurrency industry. Since returning to office, Trump has issued several high-profile pardons , including one in January for Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road, and another in March for three co-founders of the crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, including Arthur Hayes . Reports also suggest Sam Bankman-Fried may be seeking clemency under the Trump administration. Zhao’s request is expected to draw scrutiny given the scale of Binance’s legal troubles and the broader debate over crypto regulation in the U.S. Additionally, Binance executives were reportedly lobbying the Treasury Department to loosen oversight and may list a new Trump-linked stablecoin, USD1 .
You may also like
The migration of settlement rights: B18 and the institutional starting point of on-chain banks
In the traditional system, banks decide the settlement; in the on-chain system, code begins to take over this responsibility.
From Tencent and Circle: Looking at the Simple and Difficult Questions of Investment
The AI narrative continues to ferment, but the recent performance of related stocks varies, with some in the midst of summer and others as if in winter.
The second half of stablecoins no longer belongs to the crypto circle
What Coinbase doesn't want, Mastercard is eager to buy.
Cursor "Shell" Kimi Controversy Reversed: From Copyright Infringement Allegations to Authorized Collaboration, China's Open Source Model Once Again Becomes a Global AI Foundation
Cursor was accused of being based on Kimi K2.5, which sparked controversy, and was later confirmed to be compliant through Fireworks AI due diligence.
The Real Reason Tokens Don't Sell: 90% of Crypto Projects Overlook Investor Relations
Provide an Investor Relations Best Practices Guide for Crypto Projects.
Is the income of pump.fun real, earning a million dollars a day despite the market downturn?
If it can really earn this much, what is the reason for the low price of $PUMP?
The real reason why tokens are not selling: 90% of crypto projects neglect investor relations
Investor Relations Practice Guide for Cryptocurrency Projects.
Who is the true winner of the "Tokenization" narrative?
Virtually everyone benefits, but the reason for the benefit, the timing, and the underlying logic are completely different.
Moss: The Era of AI-Traded by Anyone | Project Introduction
AI Trading Agent is rapidly growing its infrastructure.
Chip Smuggling Case Exposes Regulatory Loophole | Rewire News Evening Update
AI chips have become a strategic asset more sensitive than missiles
How a Structured AI Crypto Trading Bot Won at the WEEX Hackathon
Ritmex demonstrates how disciplined risk control and structured signals can make an AI crypto trading bot more stable and reliable on WEEX, highlighting the importance of combining execution discipline with scalable AI trading systems.
Old Indicator Fails, Three Major New Signals Emerge: BTC True Bottom May Still Be Below $60K
When the grocery shopping auntie on the subway, or Tony the hairdresser, start asking you about BTC, crypto, and cryptocurrency investments, selling immediately will be the only best option.
Meeting OpenClaw Founder at a Hackathon: What Else Can Lobsters Do?
Imperial College London MetaGame: AI Agent × Web3 Landing Three Major Directions.
Huang Renxun's Latest Podcast Transcript: NVIDIA's Future, Embodied Intelligence and Agent Development, Soaring Demand for Inferencing, and AI's PR Crisis
The future of competition is not only about whose model is bigger, whose computing power is stronger, but also about who understands the industry better, who can more deeply integrate AI into real processes, and who can organize these capabilities into a set of executable, scalable systems
How a Structured AI Crypto Trading Bot Won at the WEEX Hackathon
Crypto_Trade shows how structured inputs and controlled adaptability can build a more stable and reliable AI crypto trading bot within the WEEX AI Trading Hackathon, highlighting a practical path toward scalable AI trading systems.
AI Starts to Devour the Manufacturing Industry | Rewire News Morning Edition
When Bezos starts using AI to buy factories instead of building data centers, it shows that he believes the next wave of AI's value is not inside the box.
When Scaling Meets Speed, Ethereum Foundation Introduces "Hardness" to Safeguard the Base Layer
Hardness is a protocol-level commitment to Ethereum core properties, including censorship resistance, privacy, security, and permissionlessness.
Google, Circle, Stripe Flock Together to Let AI Spend Money: Payment Giants' Joys and Worries in 2026 Q1
The real enemy is no longer each other, but zero cost itself
The migration of settlement rights: B18 and the institutional starting point of on-chain banks
In the traditional system, banks decide the settlement; in the on-chain system, code begins to take over this responsibility.
From Tencent and Circle: Looking at the Simple and Difficult Questions of Investment
The AI narrative continues to ferment, but the recent performance of related stocks varies, with some in the midst of summer and others as if in winter.
The second half of stablecoins no longer belongs to the crypto circle
What Coinbase doesn't want, Mastercard is eager to buy.
Cursor "Shell" Kimi Controversy Reversed: From Copyright Infringement Allegations to Authorized Collaboration, China's Open Source Model Once Again Becomes a Global AI Foundation
Cursor was accused of being based on Kimi K2.5, which sparked controversy, and was later confirmed to be compliant through Fireworks AI due diligence.
The Real Reason Tokens Don't Sell: 90% of Crypto Projects Overlook Investor Relations
Provide an Investor Relations Best Practices Guide for Crypto Projects.
Is the income of pump.fun real, earning a million dollars a day despite the market downturn?
If it can really earn this much, what is the reason for the low price of $PUMP?
App