Speculation about a potential presidential pardon for former Binance CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao has intensified dramatically after he removed the "ex-@binance" tag from his X profile, which he had maintained since his November 2023 resignation as part of a plea deal with US authorities. This seemingly minor social media change sparked massive betting activity on prediction platform Polymarket, where odds of Zhao receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump surged to an all-time high of 64% before settling at 45%.
The pardon speculation directly fueled a historic price surge for Binance's native token BNB, which broke through the $1,000 psychological barrier for the first time in its history. The token's market capitalization propelled it past Solana to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency globally.
This development occurs against the backdrop of Zhao's confirmed May 2025 directive to his lawyers to apply for a Trump pardon. The president has already issued clemency for several high-profile crypto figures, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed.
Meanwhile, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, and Mazie Hirono have raised concerns about potential changes to Binance's $4.3 billion settlement agreement. They specifically questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi about reports that Binance is seeking to drop its independent compliance monitor—a key oversight requirement from the 2023 enforcement deal. The lawmakers highlighted Trump family financial connections to Binance through World Liberty Financial, which has increased its ties to the exchange since May 2024.
Zhao served four months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to money laundering charges related to failures in maintaining effective anti-money laundering programs at Binance. Current CEO Richard Teng has led the exchange since Zhao's departure, overseeing the company's compliance with the three-year monitoring requirement.
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