U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao had previously served time in prison for not preventing criminals from using his platform for illegal activities related to child exploitation, drug trafficking, and terrorism.
Zhao, who has close connections to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture initiated by the Trump family, had requested the pardon from the President. Trump’s latest financial disclosure report indicates that he earned over $57 million US from World Liberty Financial last year. The venture has introduced USD1, a stablecoin tied at a 1-to-1 ratio with the U.S. dollar.
Recently, World Liberty Financial announced that an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates is set to utilize $2 billion US worth of USD1 to acquire a stake in Binance. Zhao publicly disclosed his plea for a pardon from Trump to overturn his conviction.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the Biden administration’s prosecution of Zhao was driven by a desire to penalize the cryptocurrency sector. Leavitt highlighted that there were no allegations of fraud or specific victims, even though Zhao had admitted guilt in November to failing to uphold an anti-money-laundering program.
During his court appearance last year, Zhao acknowledged his failure, expressing deep regret and apologies for his actions.