Binance’s founder, “CZ”, seeks forgiveness of President Trump after 4 -month prison in prison

Changpeng Zhao, founder and ex -CEO of Crypto Exchange Binance, hopes to get a forgiveness from President Donald Trump after being released from prison at the end of last year. Zhao, better known by his initial CZ, formally requested a pardon from the Trump administration two weeks ago, told Farokh Radio podcast On Monday.

“We only sent ourselves after the Bloomberg article and the Wall Street Journal The article came out, “Cz said to the podcast, referring to two March articles that reported that he expected to receive a forgiveness in exchange for going into business with Trump.

At that time, Zhao denied it Wall Street Journals He claims he was discussing a business business of any kind, but did not rule out the idea of ​​forgiveness. “No Felon would import a forgiveness, especially the only one in the history of the United States who was sentenced to prison for a single post of BSA,” he wrote X. BSA refers to the Bank Secret Law, which requires financial institutions to help the Government prevent money laundering.

Zhao’s decision to seek forgiveness also approximately coincides with an announcement by President Eric Trump last week that his family’s crypt signature, World Liberty Financial (WLF), had joined a joint company with Binance and the risk firm based in United Arab Emirates. The Agreement calls for MGX to use Stablecoins issued by WLF to invest $ 2 billion in Binance. Although the details of the agreement are still unclear, the WLF could clean as much as $ 80 million Throughout a year through the underlying reserves of performance, according to Fortuneestimates.

In 2023, Zhao was guilty of not implementing appropriate practices against money laundering in Binance and resigned as CEO. Binance also declared guilty of related charges and was forced to pay more than $ 4 billion in fines. As a result of the lawsuit, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison, which served from April to September last year.

If Trump chooses to grant a forgiveness to Zhao, it would hardly be the first time he has exercised his power of mercy. The president has forgiven hundreds of people in his first 100 days in office, including multiple criminals related to crypto, and the riots of January 6 who swept the chapter.

Trump forgave Ross UlbrichtThe drug trafficking site of the dark web, Silk Road, during his first days in office, ending his sentence in Ulbricht’s life after he had spent 12 years in prison. In addition, he forgave three founders of Crypto Exchange Bitmex and another executive of the company, freeing them from probation after declaring guilty of violating laws against money laundering.

When asked about his thoughts about a Trump’s second presidency, Zhao said: “This will be a good guy for our industry and also for any kind of people who have a criminal burden.”

This story originally presented to Fortune.com

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