Trump Pardons Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao After $2 Billion Stablecoin Deal

President Trump issued a full pardon to Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder of Binance cryptocurrency exchange, who had pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering and served four months in federal prison. The pardon came days after Binance.US added support for Trump family’s USD1 stablecoin and followed a $2 billion investment deal between MGX (an Emirati-backed fund) and Binance using the USD1 stablecoin. Binance had paid lobbyist Charles McDowell, a friend of Donald Trump Jr., $450,000 in September 2025 for lobbying services that included seeking ’executive relief’ from the White House.

The timing raised significant conflict-of-interest concerns, as World Liberty Financial (WLF), the Trump family’s crypto venture, is hosted on Binance’s platform and directly benefited from the USD1-Binance partnership. Senator Chris Murphy accused the White House of corruption, noting the pardon appeared connected to the stablecoin listing. The White House justified the pardon by claiming Zhao was prosecuted ‘in their war on cryptocurrency’ by the Biden Administration, despite Zhao’s guilty plea to Bank Secrecy Act violations that allowed Binance to process transactions for terrorists, ransomware attackers, and child exploitation materials.

This pardon represents a clear pattern of using presidential clemency powers to benefit business partners of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency ventures, while Zhao’s Binance remained under a five-year monitorship for anti-money laundering violations.