Trump Pardons Binance Founder After Crypto Platform Aided Trump Family Venture

President Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served only four months of his sentence for money-laundering violations, after Binance provided critical infrastructure support for the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture. The pardon came after Binance formed a high-level task force to negotiate with World Liberty Financial and facilitated a $2 billion Emirati investment using Trump family stablecoins, generating hundreds of millions in fees for the Trump family. Binance hired lobbyist Charles McDowell—a friend of Donald Trump Jr.—for $450,000 just before the pardon. The timing raises severe conflict-of-interest concerns, as the Trump family directly profited from Binance’s business operations while Trump held pardon power over Zhao. The pardon eliminates Justice Department oversight of Binance and enables the company to resume U.S. operations despite its criminal history.