Trump defends pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao: 'Don't believe I've ever met him, but he had a lot of support'

U.S. President Donald Trump addressed his pardon of Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, claiming the former Binance CEO was "persecuted" by the Biden administration.

"I do pardon a lot of people," Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon. "He was recommended by a lot of people. Are you talking about the crypto person? A lot of people say he wasn't guilty of anything."

Zhao served four months in prison and was released in September 2024. He pled guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an "effective anti-money laundering program." He was also fined $50 million, and Binance, the crypto exchange he cofounded, agreed to pay $4.3 billion as part of the settlement.

Following a couple of disparaging "fake news" remarks toward CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who had asked the president about the pardon, Trump mentioned he does not know Zhao personally.

"I don't know him, I don't believe I've ever met him," Trump said, "but I've been told he had a lot of support and they say that what he did is not even a crime... so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people."

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial had discussed buying a stake in Binance.US amid claims Zhao was seeking a presidential pardon — a report World Liberty dismissed as politically motivated. About six weeks later, Abu Dhabi–based MGX said it would use World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin in a $2 billion deal with Binance.

Binance's native BNB token is up 5% over the past 24 hours while World Liberty's WLFI token is higher by more than 15%, according to The Block's data.

President Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office in January, issuing a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road creator who was serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Last week, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried claimed his 2022 arrest was politically motivated by the Biden administration after he shifted his political donations toward Republicans. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison, following the collapse of FTX and a criminal trial that found him guilty of fraud.