{"id":25869,"date":"2025-05-08T18:31:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T18:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=25869"},"modified":"2025-05-08T18:31:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T18:31:49","slug":"binance-founder-cz-confirms-filing-for-president-trumps-pardon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=25869","title":{"rendered":"Binance Founder CZ Confirms Filing for President Trump\u2019s Pardon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the former CEO of Binance, has confirmed in an interview that he has formally applied for a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>However, he also clarified that he has no plans to return as a leader in the world\u2019s largest crypto exchange.<\/p>\n<h2>Former CEO Files For Clemency<\/h2>\n<p>Zhao said on the Farokh Radio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=n1W5VbLFZtw&amp;t=2297s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">podcast<\/a> that the application was submitted through his legal team two weeks ago. He explained that the decision to proceed came after news reports in March by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal alleged he was seeking a pardon in connection with crypto ventures linked to the Trump family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe only submitted after the Bloomberg article and the Wall Street Journal article came out,\u201d Zhao said, referring to his initial denial of the reports. \u201cIf they are writing this article, we might as well just officially apply,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Back in March, Zhao publicly <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptopotato.com\/cz-denies-trump-binance-deal-allegations-calls-wsj-report-misleading\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">dismissed<\/a> the report on X, saying the news outlet had reported incorrect information and that he had not held any discussions regarding a Binance U.S. deal.<\/p>\n<p>However, he acknowledged that he would not object to receiving amnesty:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cNo felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in U.S. history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In the recent interview, CZ further explained that part of the motivation came from President Trump\u2019s previous decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptopotato.com\/4-crypto-founders-trump-pardoned-and-3-who-may-be-next\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">pardon<\/a> the BitMEX founders, including Arthur Hayes, who pleaded guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).<\/p>\n<h2>CZ Won\u2019t Be Returning to Binance<\/h2>\n<p>Although Zhao is seeking clemency, he revealed he has no plans to return to the company\u2019s leadership. \u201cI\u2019m not really looking to become CEO of Binance again,\u201d he said. Despite stepping down, he remains the largest shareholder of the crypto exchange.<\/p>\n<p>His legal troubles began in November 2023, when he pleaded guilty to a money laundering violation in a settlement with U.S. authorities. Binance agreed to pay a $4.3 billion penalty, with CZ contributing $50 million. The former executive was also ordered to resign as the company\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n<p>He was later <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptopotato.com\/ex-binance-ceo-changpeng-zhao-receives-4-months-jail-time-for-aml-violations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">sentenced<\/a> to four months in prison and banned from holding any role at Binance.\u00a0 According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), while a presidential pardon would not erase his conviction, it could allow him to take on a managerial or operational position at the firm.<\/p>\n<p>Since completing his prison term, Zhao has taken up advisory positions abroad. In Pakistan, he supports the nation\u2019s crypto council with policy and infrastructure planning. He also <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptopotato.com\/cz-signs-mou-with-kyrgyzstan-to-develop-crypto-and-blockchain-ecosystem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">signed<\/a> an MOU with the National Investment Agency in Kyrgyzstan to assist with Web3 initiatives and digital finance development.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptopotato.com\/binance-founder-cz-confirms-filing-for-president-trumps-pardon\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Binance Founder CZ Confirms Filing for President Trump\u2019s Pardon<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptopotato.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">CryptoPotato<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the former CEO of Binance, has confirmed in an interview that he has formally applied for a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. However, he also clarified that he has no plans to return as a leader in the world\u2019s largest crypto exchange. Former CEO Files For Clemency Zhao said on the Farokh [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-25869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25869\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}