{"id":128799,"date":"2025-05-08T00:20:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T00:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128799"},"modified":"2025-05-08T00:20:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T00:20:05","slug":"binance-founder-cz-asked-trump-to-pardon-money-laundering-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128799","title":{"rendered":"Binance founder CZ asked Trump to pardon money laundering conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsBinance founder and convicted felon Changpeng Zhao says that he applied for a pardon from US President Donald Trump shortly after denying reports that he was seeking one.<br \/>\nZhao, also known as CZ, said on a Farokh Radio podcast episode aired May 6 that he \u201cwouldn\u2019t mind\u201d a pardon and that his lawyers have already filed the paperwork on his behalf<br \/>\n\u201cI got lawyers applying,\u201d Zhao said, adding that he submitted the request after Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported in March that he was seeking a pardon from Trump amid discussions of a business deal between the Trump family and Binance.US.<br \/>\nZhao denied the reports at the time, but said on the podcast that he thought \u201cif they\u2019re writing this article, I may as well just officially apply.\u201d<br \/>\nHe added that Trump\u2019s pardon of three BitMEX founders, including Arthur Hayes, also motivated him to submit an application.<br \/>\nZhao said the application was submitted about two weeks ago.<br \/>\nChangpeng Zhao (right) speaking with Farokh Sarmad (left). Source: Farokh RadioZhao said at the time of the Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal reports that \u201cno felon would mind a pardon,\u201d and claimed he is the only person in US history to serve prison time for a Bank Secrecy Act charge.<br \/>\nZhao pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in November 2023 as part of a deal Binance reached with US authorities, which saw it pay a $4.3 billion fine, to which Zhao contributed $50 million. He was also forced to step down as CEO.<br \/>\nZhao was later sentenced to four months in prison and was prohibited from working at Binance as part of his plea deal.<br \/>\nRelated: VanEck files for BNB ETF, first in US<br \/>\nAccording to the US Department of Justice, a pardon would not erase Zhao\u2019s money laundering conviction; however, it could potentially allow him to assume a management or operational role at Binance.US.<br \/>\nZhao has no plans to return as Binance CEO<br \/>\nWhile Zhao remains a Binance shareholder, he said in November at Binance Blockchain Week that he has \u201cno plans to return to the CEO position.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\n\u201cI feel the team is doing well and doesn&#8217;t need me back,\u201d Zhao said.<br \/>\nSince leaving prison, Zhao has commenced advisory roles in Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan, assisting on matters related to crypto regulation and implementing blockchain solutions.<br \/>\nMagazine: Bitcoiner Adam Back on Blockstream conspiracy theories and Satoshi question<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/changpeng-zhao-cz-binance-asked-trump-pardon?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsBinance founder and convicted felon Changpeng Zhao says that he applied for a pardon from US President Donald Trump shortly after denying reports that he was seeking one.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128799"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128799\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}