Trump family makes $5 billion from cryptocurrency World Liberty Venture
Trump and his family made about $5 billion from World Liberty Financial’s $WLFI token, raising ethical concerns.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has pardoned convicted Binance founder Chao Changpeng, White House officials announced on October 23.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said in a statement that President Trump “exercised his constitutional authority by pardoning Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in the crypto war.”
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chao, one of the most powerful figures in the crypto world, had to step down as chief executive of Binance when the company agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. government to end a years-long investigation into misconduct at the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
President Trump’s pardon of Zhao clears the way for the crypto mogul to return to the business he helped found in 2017. He was sentenced by a judge to four months in prison, which he has already served.
Zhao’s pardon is the latest in a series of pardons President Trump has granted to executives convicted of white-collar crimes.
Earlier this year, he pardoned the founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX in connection with similar anti-money laundering violations, and the founder of electric truck company Nikola was convicted of fraud. He also commuted the sentences of executives at the now-defunct startup Ozzy Media.
