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Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao after a $2B deal in the family’s stablecoin
On October 21, 2025, Trump granted a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao, founder of the crypto exchange Binance. Zhao had pleaded guilty to an anti-money-laundering violation, paid a $50 million fine and served four months in prison. Before the pardon, Binance helped write the code for USD1, the Trump family’s stablecoin.
What happened
In November 2023 Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, founder of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program under the Bank Secrecy Act. Binance paid $4.3 billion. Zhao paid a $50 million personal fine, stepped down, and served four months in prison in 2024.
In March 2025 the Wall Street Journal reported that Zhao was seeking a pardon while the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial discussed buying a stake in Binance.US. World Liberty called the report politically motivated. In May 2025, MGX, an Abu Dhabi firm led by Sheikh Tahnoon, used USD1 to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance, which made USD1 one of the fastest-growing stablecoins. Reporting said Binance had helped write USD1’s code.
Trump signed a full pardon for Zhao on October 21, 2025, according to the Justice Department’s pardon list; the White House announced it two days later, saying he had been prosecuted in the prior administration’s “war on cryptocurrency.“ Trump said he did not know Zhao and had acted on recommendations. No specific dollar gain to the Trump family has been established.
Who benefited
Zhao’s conviction was erased, clearing the way for his return to Binance’s business. He had paid a $50 million fine and served four months in prison in 2024. World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, which Binance helped build, carried a $2 billion deposit after the Binance deal.
Who wanted something
Zhao had a guilty plea on his record, and Binance was a company barred from the U.S. market. Binance was lobbying for the pardon while it helped the president’s family venture and accepted $2 billion in its stablecoin.
Who lost out
The anti-money-laundering rules Zhao admitted violating exist to keep criminal money out of exchanges. The man who pleaded guilty to breaking them at the world’s largest exchange now has no conviction. The exchange that aided the president’s family business got what it had lobbied for.
Why it matters
A president pardoned the founder of a company that had helped build his family’s financial product and routed $2 billion through it. Reports said the pardon was being sought at the same time as business talks. The record establishes the sequence. It does not establish a dollar figure for what the family gained.
Sources FactCheck.orgThe BlockReuters (via Yahoo News)CNN (via KVIA)