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US President Donald Trump signed a pardon for Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on October 23, 2025, clearing a federal conviction tied to anti-money-laundering failures.
According to Reuters and the Associated Press, Zhao had pleaded guilty in 2023, paid a $50 million fine, and served about four months in prison. Binance itself agreed to more than $4 billion in penalties related to US enforcement actions.
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Representative Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, called the pardon “appalling but unsurprising” and accused the administration of favoring wealthy insiders.
Based on reports from her office, Waters alleges that CZ spent months lobbying the president and his
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