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Changpeng Zhao Pardoned by President
By Reuters | 23 Oct, 2025

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt explains why Trump pardoned crypto crony Changpeng Zhao.

Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary

"I would respond and say the President is exercising his constitutional authority to grant clemency requests, and the president and the White House have a very thorough examination of every pardon request that comes to the president's desk. It is thoroughly reviewed by the White House Counsel office. And I spoke with our great White House counsel about the pardon after it happened. This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration. Even the judge in the case admitted that the Biden administration was pursuing a egregious over sentencing of this individual. And the previous administration was very hostile to the cryptocurrency industry. So the president wants to correct this overreach of the Biden administration's misjustice. And he exercised his constitutional authority to do so. And to the Democrats, I would just say there's nothing more corrupt than what President Biden did on his way out the door, pardoning his extremely corrupt son and many of his associates."

Zhao said in a post on social media platform X that he was "Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice." He added: "Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto."

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.