US President Donald Trump has pardoned billionaire Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Mr Zhao was jailed in April 2024 for four months after pleading guilty to one charge of money laundering after criminals used the cryptocurrency exchange to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.
He had previously asked Mr Trump for a pardon.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a statement that the previous Biden administration had prosecuted Zhao out of a “desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry”.
She said there were “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims”.
In a post on X, Mr Zhao said that he was “deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice”.
He added: “Will do everything we can to help make America the Capital of Crypto.”
Ukraine war latest: Putin responds to Trump’s ‘unfriendly act’ amid fury in Moscow – as NATO jets scrambled to new ‘airspace violation’
Power of Russia sanctions lies in US financial system that greases the wheels
How Ukraine refinery strikes and US sanctions are squeezing Russia at home
Mr Zhao has ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture that Mr Trump and his sons, Eric and Donald Jnr, launched in September.
Mr Trump’s most recent financial disclosure report reveals he made more than $57m (£42.7m) in 2024 from World Liberty Financial, which has launched USD1, a stablecoin pegged at a one-to-one ratio to the dollar.
Read more from Sky News:
Trump’s sanctions are no slap on the wrist
East Wing of White House will be demolished
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates would be using $2bn worth of USD1 to purchase a stake in Binance.
