Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of Binance, confirmed that he had officially asked for a presidential forgiveness, weeks after initially denied the reports of such a decision.
Speaking on the Radio Farokh podcast broadcast on May 6, Zhao said that his legal team had applied for general media speculation.
“I made lawyers apply,” said Zhao in the interview, saying that he had finally decided to advance after stories from Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal suggested that he was pursuing former American president Donald Trump.
“If they write this article, I can also officially apply,” added Zhao.
CZ Cites Trump’s Bitmex forgiveness as a key motivation
Zhao, commonly known as CZ, also quoted Trump’s past pardons of three Bitmex leaders, including Arthur Hayes, as an additional motivation to submit the request.
According to him, the documents were deposited about two weeks before the episode of the Podcast.
The former crypto magnate pleaded guilty of having violated the law on the secret of the bank in November 2023 as part of a settlement with the American authorities.
The agreement led Binance to pay $ 4.3 billion in fines, Zhao personally contributing $ 50 million.
He was sentenced to four months in prison and prevented a management position at Binance as a condition of the agreement.
Although a forgiveness would not eliminate the conviction for money laundering of Zhao, he could potentially pave the way to return to a leadership role in Binance.us, according to the United States Ministry of Justice.
Zhao recognized that “no criminal would care about forgiveness” and thinks that he could be the only individual to have served a violation of the Bank’s secret law.
Since he resigned as CEO and a purge of his sentence, Zhao has remained a shareholder in Binance and said that he did not intend to return to the bar.
Speaking during the Binance Blockchain Week in November, he pointed out: “I think the team is fine and does not need me.”
Zhao has since moved to international advisory work, offering advice to governments in Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan on cryptographic regulations and the integration of blockchain.
Trump, who recently granted the forgiveness of Ulbricht, had promised the cryptographic community during his campaign that he would release the founder of Silk Road.
Although he was committed to acting on his first day of power, the release of Ulbricht one day came after the inauguration of Trump on January 20.
Bhutan hits binance to launch national payment of Crypto tourism
Bhutan has teamed up with Binance Pay and DK Bank to allow tourists to pay almost all expenses related to travel using cryptocurrency.
Tourists can now use digital assets to pay flights, hotels, visits, visa costs and even shopping on the road.
The system, supplied by the binance application, supports more than 100 cryptocurrencies and allows real-time transactions via QR codes.
Payments are instantly paid in local currency by DK Bank, eliminating the need for traditional banking systems, exchange of currencies or international cards, which makes travel more transparent and affordable for foreign visitors.
More than 100 Bhoutani merchants, including rural craftsmen and small sellers, joined the system, even allowing distant companies to accept cryptography payments via a simple smartphone.
The former chief of Binance CZ confirms the request for forgiveness after the initial refusal appeared first on Cryptonews.
