Changpeng Zhao denies reports of a Binance.US deal, defends Trump

The former Binance CEO served four months in prison in 2024 as part of a plea deal with US authorities and the crypto exchange.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied many of the claims in a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that he has been actively seeking a federal pardon from US President Donald Trump.

In a March 13 X post following the release of the report, Zhao said he had no discussions regarding a business deal between the Trump family and Binance.US. He further denied claims that he wanted a presidential pardon from Trump, which could potentially allow him to assume an operational or management role at Binance.

“No felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA [Bank Secrecy Act] charge,” said CZ. “Feels like the article is motivated as an attack on the President and crypto, and the residual forces of the ‘war on crypto’ from the last administration are still at work.”

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