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 his failure to prevent criminals from using the platform for illicit activities related to child exploitation, drug trafficking, and terrorism.
Zhao, who has strong connections to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture initiated by the Republican president and his sons Eric and Donald Jr., had requested a pardon from Trump. Trump’s latest financial disclosure report discloses that he earned over $57 million from World Liberty Financial last year. The venture has introduced USD1, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar at a 1-to-1 ratio.
World Liberty Financial recently announced that a United Arab Emirates investment fund plans to utilize $2 billion worth of USD1 to acquire a stake in Binance. Zhao publicly stated that he sought a pardon from Trump to overturn his conviction.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned in a statement that the Biden administration had prosecuted Zhao as a way to penalize the cryptocurrency industry. She noted that there were no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims, although Zhao had admitted guilt in November to a charge of neglecting to maintain an anti-money laundering program.
In court last year, Zhao expressed remorse, stating, “I failed here. I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.”