(Yahoo! Finance) - President Trump signed a pardon for crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao on Thursday, paving the way for crypto's biggest player to return to the US.
The move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, followed months of dialogue between the former Binance CEO and the Trump family.
"President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an emailed statement to Yahoo Finance.
"The Biden Administration's war on crypto is over," Leavitt added.
In a post on X, Zhao thanked Trump for the pardon and said he would do "everything we can" to make the US the world's crypto capital.
Zhao's pardon also comes after his former company struck a business deal with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's own crypto venture, and marks another advance in the president's deepening ties to the crypto world by absolving the founder of one of its biggest players.
Binance declined to comment. The company's cryptocurrency, BNB (BNB-USD), jumped 6% following the initial report from the Wall Street Journal.
In November 2023, Binance pleaded guilty in a US federal court to money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, and sanctions violations, including facilitating transactions by the Palestinian militant organization and US-designated terrorist group Hamas.
That action included a record $4.3 billion fine along with heavy oversight. Zhao, who served a four-month prison sentence on related charges, was released in September of last year.
The president has pledged to make America "the crypto capital of the planet."
So far in his first year, Trump has delivered a broadly more favorable regulation for the crypto world through his appointments of key federal agency heads and his push for Congress to enact more friendly legislation for the industry.
Trump has already signed two executive orders that benefit the industry, along with the first federal framework for dollar-pegged payment stablecoins. His financial regulators have also lifted guidance on crypto assets, opening the door for financial firms to become more involved in digital assets.
Trump's business ties to Binance advanced this year when the major crypto exchange struck a deal to take in a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based MGX using the stablecoin issued by the Trump family-backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial.
Launched in 2024, World Liberties' website lists Trump's sons — Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron — as co-founders, as well as real estate developer Steven Witkoff and his two sons Zach and Alex.
Trump and Steven Witkoff, who is the president's special envoy to the Middle East, each became co-founder emeritus once taking office. World Liberty's current CEO is Zach Witkoff.
A staunch critic of both the president and the crypto industry, Sen. Elizabeth Warren referred to Trump's decision to pardon Zhao as both "corruption" and "lawlessness."
By David Hollerith - Senior Reporter
Ben Werschkul contributed reporting
