Binance Founder Zhao Confirms He Applied For Presidential Pardon From Trump After Prison Stint

Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao says he applied for a pardon from United States President Donald Trump after serving a four-month prison sentence last year.

CZ, once the crypto world’s golden boy, said on the Farokh Radio podcast aired on Tuesday that he “wouldn’t mind” a pardon and that his lawyers had filed the paperwork on his behalf two weeks ago.

“We only submitted after the Bloomberg article and the Wall Street Journal article came out,” Zhao posited. He was referring to two stories published in March that reported he was seeking a pardon from President Trump amid discussions of a potential business deal between the Trump family and Binance.US.

The Binance founder refuted the reports at the time but did not rule out the possibility of seeking a pardon. He claimed that seeing the news reports prompted the application for clemency. “If they’re writing this article, I may as well just officially apply,” he said on the recent podcast. He further noted that the President’s pardon of three co-founders of the BitMEX crypto exchange, including Arthur Hayes, encouraged him to also seek a pardon.

CZ pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2023, agreeing to step down as CEO and receiving a lifetime ban from “managing or operating” Binance. He was released from a 4-month stint in prison in September after also agreeing to pay a $50 million fine, while Binance agreed to pay a record-setting $4.3 billion.

After stepping down, CZ was replaced by former Abu Dhabi regulator Richard Teng, who has led Binance to invest heavily in regulatory compliance, which he described as “Binance 2.0.”

No Plans To Return As Binance CEO

In the U.S., the President can forgive individuals convicted of crimes in what is called a ‘pardon.’ If pardoned, it will not effectively wipe Zhao’s money laundering conviction from his record; however, it could potentially allow him to return as CEO of Binance.

However, CZ clarified during the podcast that he has no interest in returning to the CEO position despite seeking a presidential pardon. “I’m not really looking to become CEO of Binance again,” quipped Zhao. 

Regardless, he remains Binance’s biggest shareholder, owning an estimated 90% stake in the world’s largest digital asset exchange.